


Intertwined

by silver_wing, UberNerd



Category: Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, WALL-E (2008)
Genre: Crossover, Everyone's confused, Gen, Multiple Universes Colliding, two different versions of Nos interacting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 02:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 38,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15450936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_wing/pseuds/silver_wing, https://archiveofourown.org/users/UberNerd/pseuds/UberNerd
Summary: Two robots are thrown into an unfamiliar world, faced with danger unlike anything they've ever known and family unlike anyone they've ever met.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story started out as a roleplay and has been adapted to a narrative! The pacing may be a little wonky, but the characters have a lot of fun. We hope you enjoy!

In the depths of a dark palace on a rogue planet steeped in red, The evil emperor Zurg had his lackeys busy reprogramming a new and improved machine to open portals to new worlds for him to conquer. A tall, angular robot in all shades of scarlet stood by his side, watching the scurrying workers with lazy disdain. The towering humanoid, AL_2_CAR-D, had his own plans for this portal. The constant race amongst galactic villains was a never ending game of power plays, and this ancient Antimatter Vampire was no different. He had much to gain through access to more worlds, not only in new energy sources, but to claim widespread destruction as his, and his alone...  
  
“What is taking so long?! I want this portal opening up now!” Zurg shouted, slamming his fist on the nearest control panel. His grubs and brains scrambled to start the portal up.  
  
AL rolled his eyes, controlling his urge to spew acid or an insult to the brainless tyrant. “Zurg, time is key. If you rush this process, the energy from this contraption could clash with itself. It could cause an interdimensional crossroad or a black hole in the lab just like last time.” He growled, “There will be no mistakes.”   
  
Zurg chuckled, the pitch of his voice rising. “O-of course AL! I just can’t help myself! Forgive me if I’m eager to impress you, it’s been such a long time since there’s been anyone worth impressing around here besides me,” Zurg glared at his own thoughts, “You’re right, I want this perfect!”  
  
“We shall see, Zurg. I have utmost respect for you,” AL drawled. You could never be too unctuous. AL leaned on his elbows, following the workers with his eyes again. It would only take a few finishing touches. Everything would go according to plan.   
  


* * *

  
  
  
Commander Nebula took his position at the controls. “Alright, time to open the portal!”  
  
Warp, Buzz, and all of Team Lightyear excluding XR stood by in concern.  
  
Buzz was the first to speak. “Sir, if XR finds out you took the blueprints from Nos’s ‒ ”  
  
“They won’t find out, and besides, they’re having a celebration for the twins making 100 cake deliveries or something. We’ll do a successful run before they figure anything out, and by then, nobody will be able to deny the positive changes we can make here!”  
  


* * *

  
  
  
In a flash of cosmic humor, two portals were opened in near simultaneity in the same universe. It would be fair to say the the fabric of space and time was no fan of that.  
  
“Let’s get this started!” the words echoed in Zurg’s palace and Star Command. Both machines rumbled to life, and although AL smirked in glee, all was not going to plan. The fabric of reality contorted, the energies clashed, and a tear opened into an unknown dimension.  
  


* * *

  
  
  
The beautifully manicured gardens surrounding the Energy Vampires’ mansion sprawled out until they ran into rolling, empty fields. The lawns, studded with fountains, flower beds, and towering trees, were the familiar playground of a pair of young robots. The day had been normal. Fletcher and Darwin had a game of checkers set up under the shade of a pear tree, doing everything they could to cheat each other and having all the fun in the world while doing it.  
  
Fletcher had just taken a stack of five pieces, declaring it a turret and lining up to flick a piece off the top as a projectile, when a noise he could only describe as otherworldly interrupted their play. A portal opened before them and began pulling at everything in its path. Everywhere around them became a swirling, explosive storm. Reacting on instinct, Fletcher grabbed Darwin and flew in the opposite direction with all his might, but there was nothing he could do to match the force. They were gone before they knew what had happened.  
  


* * *

  
  
  
A good distance outside Capital City, across the small and colorful town of Valder, the land thrived with wildlife around a proud estate. The family that lived there celebrated on their lawn. Behind the refurbished Victorian house laid a field of grass that faded into a forest, filled with a great variety of flowers.  
  
A table was being set in preparation for a party. Zombie hornets, once hostile machines that had been liberated and repurposed, pulled out plates and sorted the chairs. A black-and-white, bipedal robot with a dark visor helped children place a small cake in the center of the table, also setting out oils and batteries. From the house came a well-known Space Ranger, XR-X-4-a2. He smiled at the sight of his twins getting along without even the smallest of outbursts. He had a feeling it was going to be a good day.  
  
“Congrats, kids, on your 300th mission this month!” XR grinned, hugging them both.   
  
Following close behind with a little girl in his arms was a very well known ex-villain and fellow father of three, XR’s husband, Nos-X-4-a2.  
  
Nos smiled and kissed both of his older children on their heads. “You have made and delivered 300 cakes in two days, truly an accomplishment.”  
  
Nox and Mor grinned as their bunic approached, holding out tarts for them. Nosfer Atu was an old man, apparently in his sixties but truthfully centuries old. Earlier in his life, nobody would have dared cross him for fear of their lives, but time had treated him kindly. He had adopted a family that meant more to him than every planet in the universe. “Come here, my nepoți. Here, it is tradition that we show our gratitude for such accomplishments!” He patted their backs. “I am blessed.” Nosfer reached into his pocket and held out two gifts. “As we all know, in 3 months you’ll be turning 10, but I wish to give you both a family heirloom. I am so honored to be part of your journey growing into the wonderful people you are meant to be.”  
  
Nox and Mor smiled bashfully as they opened their boxes. Nox held up a ruby encrusted locket as Mor lifted a similar trinket covered in topaz.  
  
“It's a beautiful locket Bunic, thank you.” Nox said in awe.  
  
Nosfer chuckled as he held out his own sapphire locket. “They are family lockets we carry so that we know we are never apart. These were my parents’ and their parents’ before them. They are very old, but they are strong, and they were said to keep our family together no matter the distance between us.”  
  
Mor squealed and hugged him tightly. “Thank you Bunic!”  
  
ALD held out the cake. “Can we dig in? I’m hungry!”  
  
Baby Ana squealed just as the house began to shake. Lights shined blindingly bright and a thunderous sound exploded from the living room. Fletcher, still flying with all his might, launched himself and Darwin straight into the ceiling.  
  
All heads turned toward the house. Nos looked to the hornets and nodded, sending them a wordless command. They rushed inside to see what happened, scanning but finding no threats and fanning out to search throughout the rest of the large house. Nos followed in after them, following his senses.  
  
Fletcher and Darwin both cried out as they fell from the ceiling onto a soft divan, scrambling around and clinging to each other, looking around the room. Panic began to set in before Nos-4-a2 burst into the room. Both visibly relaxed, but Fletcher was the first to find his voice. “Dad, what’s going on? Where are we, what happened?”  
  
Nos raised a brow. “I apologize, but who are you?”  
  
It wasn’t long before XR had to follow, the twins running behind him. ALD shrugged and looked to Nosfer, who was feeding Ana a bottle of oil. “So... we dig in?”  
  
Inside, something strange and cold flushed through Fletcher’s wires. He held tighter to Darwin. Reaching out with his sensors, there was something wrong about Nos-4-a2’s wavelength. Whoever the man in front of them was, it was not his father.  
  
“Who are  _you?_ ” Fletcher croaked.  
  
XR rushed in, shocked to see two kids, one of whom bore a striking resemblance to Nos. “What’s going on?” the ranger thought out loud, but he stopped himself when he noticed the kids shaking.  
  
Darwin hugged Fletcher tighter, shielding him. “We asked first!”  
  
XR’s parental instincts kicked in, though he couldn’t help the twinge of paranoia in the back of his mind. “Are you lost? Where are your parents?”  
  
Fletcher stammered, “I don’t know, we were just... we were just playing!”  
  
Nos scanned him and found an undeniable connection between them. It was only slight and somewhat different, not to mention hard to read through the fear in the young Energy Vampire. Nos had a theory but he wanted to hear their answers.  
  
Darwin had worked up the nerve to contribute, “There was a loud noise, and something happened, and now... we’re... Can you just tell us what this place is?”  
  
Nox and Mor looked over XR’s shoulders, optics wide. Nox had sensed something from the blue and purple robot. He was like them somehow, but that shouldn’t have been possible. The only other Energy Vampires were Mr. DRAC and...  _him._  Nox couldn’t help a groan of concern. Fletcher's eyeforms flicked between each of the robots around him, but he couldn’t bring himself to react or even reach out with his sensors, trying desperately to gain his bearings.  
  
Mor finally stepped forward, grinning wide enough to show her fangs. “Salutations!” she rushed to Fletcher and Darwin, hugging them close. Nox hung back, knowing all too well the fear they felt.  
  
Darwin only squirmed and looked to the adults, still trying to keep Fletcher calm. “Please, I’m sorry we don’t know what happened, we’ll get out of here if you just tell us where we are!”  
  
Nos looked to XR and they both nodded. “We need to speak to Nebula,” Nos said so only XR could hear, trying to control his rage. XR was already trying to work out how anyone could have accessed the blueprints to their machine.  
  
Mor, still hugging them, purred to calm them down. “I’m Mor-6a!”  
  
Nox chose to join them, slowly walking up to them and cautiously wrapping his arms around them. “I’m Nox.”  
  
Darwin only struggled more, trying to keep them off Fletcher. “Can you please get off? We’re just trying to find out what happened, aren’t you confused?!”  
  
Mor took a moment, shook her head, and tightened her hug. “Nope. I know what you need!” she giggled.  
  
“My apologies,” Nox pulled back, flustered, “she is just trying to comfort you.”  
  
“That’s nice and all, but I think we’d just like to find out where we are,” Darwin said.  
  
“Seconded,” Fletcher’s voice came muffled from Darwin’s chest.  
  
Nos turned to address the hornets and kept as calm as he could. “Get Nebula on the line.”  
  
“Okay Mor, I think they’ve had enough hugs, give them some space.” XR suggested.  
  
Mor hesitated but nodded as she let go and backed away to her brother’s side.  
  
“Do you kids know how it happened?” XR asked as soft as he could, his focus was mainly how they were feeling.  
  
Fletcher managed to pry his head out of Darwin’s vice grip. “Of course not, we've been asking you this whole time!”  
  
XR winced. “Sorry I just ‒ ” he paused, fishing for the right words. “Did you see a portal open up? It would have looked like a small black hole?”  
  
Fletcher squinted, “Maybe? We were playing checkers and there was this weird noise. I didn’t think about it, I just tried to grab Darwin and get away, but it sucked us in.”  
  
“And now we’re here...” Darwin muttered.  
  
Nos perked at the description. “What noise? Can you describe it?”  
  
“It was like... something was being torn, or sucked in, but like someone just opened a vacuum chamber underwater with a gunshot.”  
  
XR and Nos exchanged worried looks.  
  
In the moment of silence that followed, Darwin gave words to the thought he’d been dreading. “Excuse me, did you say ‘portal?’”  
  
“Yes, but we need to know, who are your parents?” XR asked cautiously.  
  
“You called me ‘dad,’” Nos spoke. “Then that means he is ‒ ”  
  
“I have more brothers!” Mor hugged them tightly again, her arms wrapped all the way around them.  
  
Darwin stole himself. “Um, why do you want to know who our parents are?"  
  
Fletcher finally sat up straight, brushing Mor’s arms away. He put his hand on Darwin’s shoulder. “Darwin, that guy doesn’t just look like Dad, he  _feels_  like him. Kind of.” The hybrid turned his head to Nos and XR. “My parents are Nos-4-a2 and EVE Probe Two. My name is Fletcher. This is Darwin, and his parents are Fred and Rosie Harley.”  
  
Nos rubbed his head. “It seems we guessed correctly. Nebula has opened a portal and something has gone terribly wrong.”  
  
“What does that mean?” Fletcher asked, “How far away from home are we, exactly?”  
  
Nos swallowed his anger. They deserved answers. “You are not in the same universe.”  
  
“You might want something to eat before we explain this,” XR interjected, “especially when it’s so much to take in.”  
  
Mor squealed and grabbed Fletcher and Darwin’s hands. “Follow me!”  
  
Fletcher had gone completely blank, so Darwin put his arm around his back. “Come on Fletch, we can stand up. Let’s... uh, hear what they have to say, okay? It’s gonna be fine, come on, it’s okay...”  
  
Fletcher managed to stand and they followed Mor towards the yard.  
  
“I don’t eat,” Darwin managed once they were up and about. As trivial as the fact seemed, he didn’t want to seem rude, “and Fletcher only absorbs energy.”  
  
Nos nodded as they made their way outside. “As do we aside from Nox and XR.”  
  
“I’m a special case,” Nox chimed in, “but I am part Energy Vampire.”  
  
Mor pulled them outside and pushed them onto a chair.  
  
Nosfer looked to the newcomers and then to Nos in surprise.  
  
“They are from another universe,” Nos muttered. Nosfer only nodded.  
  
Fletcher still refused to let go of Darwin, resulting in them sitting in the same chair.  
  
ALD looked to them. Despite his lack of expression, he exuded concern and was careful to choose a calm tone. “How do you do?"  
  
“Pretty terrible, actually,” Darwin murmured.  
  
ALD nodded, sensing the shock in their system. “So the usual then,” he quipped before he could think, scolding himself. “Cake?”  
  
Darwin shook his head.  
  
ALD shrugged and placed a plate down. “So I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess Zurg stupidly opened a portal and they wound up in our home?”  
  
XR thought it over but through his calculations, not even his pops could amplify enough power to cause a portal like this. “Actually, we thought Nebula did this, but with that amount of force, it might have been two at the same time. The only problem is if anyone opens another portal, they may open up something horrible.”  
  
“Makes sense,” Nos mumbled.  
  
Fletcher’s eyeforms had almost shrunken to single pixels. “How many people have access to the power to open tears between universes in this forsaken plane of existence?!”  
  
“As of now there are three including myself,” Nos bit into an energy rock and the glow died out.  
  
Darwin perked up. “Does that mean you could send us back?”  
  
Nos pulled the rock away and allowed it to absorb sun energy. “Well, yes and no. If we use our portal while the other two are active ‒ ”  
  
“It could cause a big bang and it could hit your world, too.” XR finished for him.  
  
“So two portals screws us over...” Fletcher stammered.  
  
“...but three destroys the universe?” Darwin continued when Fletcher couldn’t.  
  
“Well in a manner of speaking... both universes will be destroyed,” XR corrected. Fletcher looked like he might crash. “The only way to send you back without any dangers or risks is to shut off both of the other machines.”  
  
“Great!” Fletcher squeaked, “So call them up and tell them to coordinate next time, and to give us a quick window to get home!”  
  
Nox shook in fear.  
  
“There is a particularly dangerous complication that prevents us from doing that,” Nos looked to his son in concern.  
  
Fletcher might have drowned under their wavelengths if he didn’t quickly stifle his sensors. He let his head hit the table, exasperated. “I take it the other owners of these portals aren’t exactly a regulated, scientific coalition, then.”  
  
XR shook his head. “That’s exactly the problem. Zurg owns one of the portals.”  
  
Fletcher waited a moment for them to elaborate before grumbling, “...Who? We’re not from here, if you can’t recall! We don’t know who that is!”  
  
“Okay, come on, cool it,” Darwin said, “They’re trying to help.”  
  
“Zurg is a terrible tyrant who tried to make me into a weapon,” Nox’s voice shook as he spoke, “and there is a psychopath with him who has this obsession with torturing me and my sister. This monster has terrorized me and vows to kill everything in this universe.” Nox’s papa held him, comforting him.  
  
“I do not know what things are like where you came from, but Zurg is also my creator. Perhaps your father has different origins, Fletcher.”  
  
Fletcher gawked at Nox. “You’re so young though, why would anyone want to kill you? And I’m sorry, but I think I’d know if my Dad was built by some maniac!"  
  
“Then it must be different. Please understand, five years ago, Zurg found out that I was alive after he believed I was offline. He also learned about Nox’s gift, unaware Mor shared his abilities. Zurg sent a monster to kidnap Nox so he could turn him into his personal weapon. This monster,” Nos paused for a moment and chose not to show them who he was. “He is a 669 year old antimatter vampire who was locked away for centuries before being freed by Zurg. When he took my son, they forced him through experiments, most even today Nox is too afraid to speak about. Luckily ALD, my brother, took care of him and a few others rebelled and tried to help him escape. The day I fought AL he nearly killed me, but I destroyed him. Alas, he survived, and ever since he has tried to kidnap Nox and kill Mor.”  
  
Darwin and Fletcher stared, utterly, completely terrified. What kind of world had they been taken to?  
  
Nosfer frowned. “AL wasn’t always like that. He was a soldier that did not wish to harm anyone. He was forced to suffer so much because of my foolish son who sought power. My son created him to be weapon and that said weapon killed him in the end, as that power drove him mad.”  
  
Darwin managed to utter, “Is there no one to protect you? At home, there are interplanetary security forces that take care of stuff like this. I know we live in the middle of nowhere, but I think it’s called Star Command? I guess it doesn’t really matter, nobody should have to deal with this.”  
  
“There are regulations and such but AL_2_CAR-D is not a follower of rules. He destroys them. As the old saying goes, rules are words that can only go so far. Nos here works with the Galactic Alliance meaning here on Capital Planet, Zurg has no access so that is an upside,” ALD explained, holding a battery and absorbing its energy within his hands.  
  
Fletcher and Darwin clung closer to each other. They had never heard of anything so potently malicious.  
  
Fletcher had such a hard time processing it that he could only seem to focus on the more mundane. His voice came out hoarse. “We really must be in another universe. I can’t imagine Dad working for any government, especially not a galaxy-wide one. Sometimes he talks about living completely off the grid, like he wants nothing to do with the Galactic Alliance at all.”  
  
Nos chuckled. “I feel the same way. I would prefer to not have any dealings with them, but if it were not for Madame President, Star Command would have blasted me away.”  
  
“And thank the Cosmos he hasn’t been destroyed,” XR grinned, hugging Nos around the waist.  
  
Fletcher relaxed a little in the moment of familiarity between this Nos-4-a2 and his own father, though seeing him with someone else threw him for a loop and the mention of the President went right over his head.  
  
Another moment passed, and once again Darwin had a chance to say what he’d rather avoid. “So if the worst people imaginable have access to a portal, are we just... trapped here?”  
  
“Not exactly, but it will take some time for us to figure things out,” Nos admitted, sensing their dread.  
  
“But don’t feel too down, we’ll take you back home. That we promise,” XR smiled but knew there wasn’t much comfort in the truth.  
  
Fletcher and Darwin leaned together, numb, powerless.  
  
“What do we do now?” Fletcher rasped, “Our parents will notice we’re gone, and there’s nothing we can do...”  
  
“We might have a solution for that problem,” XR was relieved to finally share some good news. “We can get in contact with your parents.”  
  
“Wait,  _really?_ ” Darwin gasped.  
  
Nos nodded. “It will take some work, but we will see what I can do.” He stood up and floated to the house.  
  
XR watched Nos go. “There’s some batteries and energy rocks for you Fletcher and oil for you Darwin. Be right back.” He took off into the house as well.  
  
Nox was quiet as Mor only smiled at the stunned pair of Earthlings.   
  
ALD picked up another power cell. “This is interesting to say the least.”  
  
Fletcher stared hard at the batteries on the table. “So, you guys feel like Energy Vampires. I’ve never met any besides my mom and dad before.”  
  
Mor, still smiling, nodded, “I sensed you were like me.”  
  
Nox nodded as well. “Well I’m not exactly a full Energy Vampire, but I can sense you just like papa can.”  
  
“I hope my questions don’t seem too strange,” Fletcher tested his words, trying to see if he could hold a conversation after all they’d just learned. “At home, my parents and myself are the only three Energy Vampires anywhere in the known galaxy. Are all of the Energy Vampires here related to each other?”  
  
ALD nodded. “Mostly. The psychopath we mentioned earlier is of the breed, and he has a brother who shares the trait. Those two, AL and the other, are not related to us. XR is family, but he has not turned.”  
  
Mor giggled. “Daddy isn’t ready to turn yet.”  
  
The hornets hissed and Mor nodded at them.  
  
Nox interpreted, “Bob and Frank said they will make your rooms for you for the time being.”  
  
Darwin looked to the hornets, “Um, thank you Bob and Frank. You can just, uh, make us one room.” Fletcher nodded in agreement, clinging to his scrap of home.  
  
Nox smiled. “They asked papa if it was best to keep it one room and he said yes, so they were already making one room for you. They have a keen sense of knowing about this kind of stuff.”  
  
The hornets hissed in appreciation and left back into the house.   
  
“Thanks,” Darwin murmured.  
  
“So if your other dad ‒ XR, right? ‒ isn’t ready to turn, does that mean turning is hard in this world, too? My mom still has problems, and she turned before I was born.”  
  
Mor had to think about that but Nox was the first to answer. “That we don't know, but Papa said something about messing up his core.”  
  
Fletcher thought for a moment, staring at the table. “That’s definitely different from the way things are at home. By the way, Mr. ALD, did you say that we’re on Capital Planet?”  
  
ALD nodded. “Do you have a Capital Planet in your world?”  
  
“Yeah, but it’s really, really far away from where we live,” Darwin said, “Have you ever heard of Earth?”  
  
Nox nodded excitedly. “That's where aunt Jessie and uncle Buzz and Woody live!” he smiled at the thought of their cousins’ peaceful ranch. “Their planet isn’t too far from us.”  
  
Darwin blinked, “That’s so strange. Our Capital Planet is practically on the other end of the galaxy from Earth.”  
  
“Our Earth is far away from everything,” Fletcher added, “It was uninhabitable for centuries, and we’ve only been recolonizing in the last few decades.”  
  
ALD was relieved for something easy to talk about. “Earth is a newly discovered planet, and it was only annexed into the Galactic Alliance fourteen years ago. It has been teeming with life for fourteen billion years. They have pretty decent tech, too.”  
  
“Things on our home are pretty old fashioned,” Darwin blinked, “We’re some of the most advanced tech you’ll see there. The humans used the same technology for seven hundred years straight, but now they’re more focused on cleaning up the pollution and tending the land. I’ve never been to a planet that’s so... unpolluted. Can you see all the stars at night here?”  
  
Mor was ecstatic to sense their mood was easing away from sheer terror. “Yes we do! We can even see the nova gas! Would you like to see it?!”  
  
“It’s more dust than gas – ”  
  
Darwin interrupted, “Fletcher, it doesn’t matter. Mor-6a, the way you say that makes it sound like we could see them right now!”  
  
“We have to wait till night time. When it gets dark you can see them much better and it is beautiful. We can even stand on the balcony outside our room and watch it.” Nox grinned to sense the tentative calm.  
  
Mor pouted. “We could watch from out here, but we're not allowed to stay outside by ourselves any more.”  
  
Fletcher looked down. “I’m not surprised. It sounds like a lot of terrible, scary stuff happens here...” he fisted his shirt in his hand, holding it tight. “Why would you ever let yourselves be  _vulnerable?_ ”  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Zurg fumed at the steaming wreck of his machine, once again under construction. Not only had he failed to open a portal and fried its system, he’d humiliated himself in front of his idol! 

Still, it wasn’t as bad as the constant string of insults he’d gotten while he worked with DRAC_2_LA. Zurg grumbled and tried not to whine in front of the centuries-old Antimatter Vampire. “How did this happen?!”

Grub No. 340 shook, clasping its hands. “Umm… you see, Evil Emperor Zurg… there was a glitch during the process...?” The grub was ready to run when it suddenly locked in place, plucked into the air by AL’s claws.

AL_2_CAR-D snarled, his hunger aggravated by the smell of fear. His faceplate cracked and exposed the first set of sharp teeth. “Choose your words wisely, my patience wears thin.” 

“Ap-p-pparently we had an-an energy clash with another p-portal at the same t-t-time.”

Both villains turned and looked at the nearest brain to elaborate. AL dropped the grub and it ran off as fast as it could. Brain pod No. 55 scrambled, scraping together a stack of papers. “It appears another portal was activated at the same time, and the radiation caused a rift, a ‒ a tear. If it happens again, we may open a rift big enough for a planet to vanish into the space between universes.”

Zurg slammed his fist onto the nearest workstation, sending papers and tools flying. “Now I can’t open the portal without losing a planet!” If he started the portal back up and lost a planet that to DRAC, he would be maimed. He couldn’t afford the risk it. “Shut it all down! We'll continue this tomorrow night.” Zurg shivered, addressing AL. “I can’t believe our chance to conquer has blown up in our face!”

AL narrowed his eyes. “Consider this a lesson, Zurg, but you have brought us closer to our plan. As soon as the portal is ready, everyone will fall before us.”

Something twinkled in the Emperor’s eyes. “Thank you Lord AL_2_CAR-D. I have some other matters to attend to while we bide our time. Please enjoy hunting my minions.”

AL stood in silence until Zurg left the room, his body beginning to steam. This was one hell of a setback. There must have been another way to open a portal whilst Zurg’s machine was off... If Zurg found out about his plan, he would never trust him again. He hated how much he needed that fool. Just as he was going to take his leave to steep in his thoughts, he overheard one of the brains.

“It appears something entered our universe through the rift.” Brain No. 88 pointed out to its collaborator.

AL twisted his neck like an owl, cat eyes glowing brightly. “What has entered?” he hissed.

Every brain and grub in the area began slinking away, all except the brain fixed in AL’s gaze. The smell of the brain’s fear bloomed as it squeaked, “Only two small presences...”

AL’s whole body turned to the brain, making his way towards it. “Where?”

The brain shook. “I-I need to tell Zurg ‒ ACK!”

AL lifted the brain by its life support as tentacles sprouted from his back, zeroing in on its glass helmet. “You will tell me or I will make you into my next meal. I am working up quite an appetite.”

“I don’t know!” the brain choked, “They could be anywhere ‒ AAAH!”

AL threw the brain across the lab so hard that scraps of metal scattered across the floor. The nerve of that incompetent waste of a brain, attempting to keep this information from him. He looked down at a monitor that displayed two sightings of active portals. He allowed one tendril out of his palm to snake into a port, downloading the information. When he finished, his face plate cracked into a smirk, exposing his rows of ragged teeth. He left the lab, strolling down the halls. “It seems the other portal came from Star Command,” he hummed to himself. He knew Nos-4-a2 wouldn’t dare open his portal after the incident with Toontown. Nonetheless, if that parasite had done it again, AL would have the chance to open another portal and use those two visitors as a signal booster to their universe.

“They will have front row seat to their own doom,” he purred. “I must look into this... It is time to sneak into Star Command once again.”

With a chuckle, he disappeared into smoke.

 

 

Mor giggled, sitting by her uncle’s side and attempting to spook her little sister. Nox had taken the seat next to Fletcher and Darwin. The hornets finished cleaning and had gone inside to hibernate. Nos and XR were still inside as well, leaving Nosfer to watch the boys.

“Well, the best part of living out here is that we get to see so many animals almost everyday.” Nox smiled as he sipped his oil. His optics followed a bird across the partially clouded sky. “We could even camp out here and watch the stars if we were not banned from staying out at night.”

Fletcher and Darwin tilted their heads.

Much to their surprise, Nox turned a shade of orange. “Well it's... it’s because I accidentally... let a pack of raccoons... inside the house.”

Darwin gawked, “That’s the reason you’re not allowed to be out on your own?”

Mor pouted and crossed her arms, turning violet.

“I wish it was only raccoons…” Nox mumbled into his hands.

Fletcher snorted, “What’s your guys’ deal? I’d be a shut-in if I faced all the stuff you have!”

Nox and Mor were too bashful to answer.

“Not only did Nox let in raccoons,” ALD piped up, pointing to Mor, “This one here let a bear inside, which then proceeded to give birth in our living room. They trashed the house and ransacked the food Nosfer had brought for safekeeping.”

Nosfer chuckled, leaning back in his seat.

“Juliet was scared!” More exclaimed, “I didn’t want her out in the cold, and it was safe in our home...”

Fletcher laughed, “Oh my god. I’ve never even SEEN a bear!”

ALD perked up, “Would you like to see one?”

“Is that... safe?” Fletcher asked.

“We can’t even think about getting close to any animals at home,” Darwin explained, “They’re still so new to their environments, the ecosystems are too delicate this soon after being reintroduced.”

“Don't worry, it is safe out here,” ALD soothed, “Most of the company we get out here are animals. Not many people come this far.” ALD stood up and the twins did the same, their optics filled with excitement. “Come on, I'll take you to a spot Juliet frequents with her cubs, Moe and Lou. If we are lucky, we may even see other animals by the lake.”

Fletcher only watched them. “Wait... I thought we might be able to contact our parents? I know you’re just trying to be nice and make the best of this situation, but... we’re still really, really freaked out, and our parents have no idea where we are.”

ALD took a knee next to Darwin and Fletcher’s chair. “I understand you are worried, but my brother and his mate are doing the best they can. Nox has been in the same situation you’re in now, only there was no way to contact him,” ALD patted Fletcher’s head. “My brother does not want you going through that and he is not one to give up on helping family.”

Fletcher felt static rise to his face, but when Darwin got up, he followed suit. “You think he thinks I’m family?”

Nox nodded. “That’s because you are. You’re an Energy Vampire, you are our older brother.”

“...You feel like that, too?” Fletcher asked softly, “We don’t know anything about each other.”

But before Nox could answer, ALD groaned, sensing his lunatic brother-in-law coming close. “Nutso approaches.”

“What’s ‘nutso?’” Darwin asked.

Mor waved up to the sky. “Uncle XL!”

ALD didn’t have it in him to deal with XL saying something insensitive to Fletcher. The tall Energy Vampire scooped all the kids into his arms sped into the forest. Nosfer chuckled as little Ana reached out for them. “It's okay little gem, let’s go see what your fathers are doing before your uncle shows up comes.”

Ana snuggled into the warmth of her grandfather's chest as Nosfer took her inside.

ALD slowed down when they came to the edge of the lake. Seeing XL hadn’t followed them, he placed all the kids on the ground. “Is everyone okay?”

Mor, slightly dizzy, fell on her back but gave a thumbs up as Nox nodded. Fletcher hovered upright without missing a beat. “What was that all about?”

Nox could only giggle, “It is just Uncle ALD’s way of getting far from our other uncle, XL. They really don’t get along.”

Mor sat up and tried to pull her hair down, but her curls were frizzled from the static. “They fight a lot and have what Papa calls ‘trivial competitions,’ but they do have one thing in common. They love us a lot.” ALD help smooth her hair out by running his fingers through it and draining the little shocks from her hair. “They want us to be safe, but the only way they work together is if they’re competing.”

ALD grumbled, rolling his head to work out the tense wires. “Does it matter? Your father chose me to be your guardian, who even cares about that imbecile?”

Darwin half-smiled. “You sure have a, uh... complicated family.”

“You have no idea,” Mor turned and spotted a creature, her optics lighting up like the stars. She pointed past them to the side of the lake. “Hey, look over there,” she whispered.

Fletcher and Darwin shifted their gazes to follow Mor’s finger. A deer stood on the shore, just downwind from a bear leading its cubs to the water.

 

 

Nos did all he could to calm himself, but with the children scared, he was far beyond frustrated. XR stood next to him, arms crossed and in a similar state. They faced a large screen, having been put on hold. Every second was more aggravating than the last, and when the five minute mark passed, both were ready to jump through the screen.

Finally, Nebula appeared. “What a surprise, just the couple I was gonna call ‒ ”

“You stole our blueprints!” XR was the first to shout, “Were you actually gonna call us to repair the portal AFTER pulling that off?!”

Nebula groaned, “Look, we needed a leg up against Zurg and you wouldn’t let us have the machine. Consider this working from where you left off.”

“This is what you call working from where I left off?” Nos snarled, “I warned you many times, this is not a toy. There are many risks, factors, and consequences you did not ‘work on’ as you so generously put it.” Nos picked his words carefully. “Thanks to your incompetence and lack of reasoning, there are two children that have been taken from their home and dropped into our living room. Their parents must be worried sick!” 

XR glanced at his husband. Of course he would want to guard the kids’ identities. If Fletcher's dad was anything like his Nos, he wouldn’t want anybody finding out about his family, nevertheless the head of Star Command. It would be too easy for that information to leak.

“No problem!” Nebula waved, “We’ll start the portal back up ‒ ”

“Are you serious?! Even just warming your portal up might tear open a random rift and let something else come in,” XR exclaimed. How was the message not getting across? It was like his pops refused to hear a word they were saying. “Don’t you understand this is dangerous? You’re putting innocent lives on the line!”

“That’s highly un ‒ ”

Nos slammed his fist on the wall. Even XR flinched. “You will send us the information and shut down that second-rate portal!"

Nebula fumed as Nos growled, but XR squeezed his hand, reminding him where he was.

Nos took a moment to collect himself. He glared at Nebula, his optics gleaming. “If you do not do what is right, I will get the Galactic Alliance involved. I will do far more than have your inane portal operation shut down, I will ruin your reputation! I will do whatever I can to get these kids home to their parents, and I guarantee that anything you do to hinder me will blow up in your face.”

XR turned off the communicator before things could escalate any further, letting go of the breath he hadn’t meant to hold.

“So... crazy ten minutes,” XR spat. He hadn’t expected such blatant opposition from his pops. “We spent all that time on hold just for him to ignore us!”

Nos let his attention fall to XR, his rage ebbing in the face of concern. “How are you feeling, luv?”

“Well, there’s a burnt up floor in our living room that the hornets still have to clean, we need to figure out how Star Command managed to steal the blueprints from our locked lab ‒ I mean, it must have been either XL or Buzz, but I’m leaning towards XL ‒ I don’t feel as hurt as I think I should.” He gave a sharp laugh, “Oh, and have I mentioned the two kids in our backyard who we just scared to death?” He leaned against the wall, his head ducking into his cylindrical body. “I'm just... I'm just scared, and nervous.”

Nos leaned down, but XR shook his head. “I’m not bothered that there’s a kid who’s from you and someone else. I know he’s from another dimension. I’m not worried about the ‘what ifs’ or whatever. It's just, I feel useless right now, like when I couldn’t help Nox when he got sent to Toontown. All because XL wanted an autograph from some singer and ended up causing a malfunction. And all those other times when Nox woke up crying and he couldn’t talk to me about his nightmares. These kids are hardly any older than our twins and they have no idea where they are and I can’t comfort them. Fletcher was having a panic attack and I couldn’t do anything to help him.” XR felt himself spiraling. “I’m scared because I’m useless in this whole situation and I hate that especially being called useless behind my back.”

“That makes two of us,” Nos cupped XR’s head in his hand. “A child out of nowhere called me dad and all I said was ‘who are you?’ I could nott feel worse.”

XR felt his systems settle a bit and couldn't help but chuckle. How terrible was it to find comfort in sharing the feeling of shock? “You know this was kinda good for us, I guess. In case something like this happens again. I’m hoping there’s not gonna be another one, but maybe we can think of this as practice.”

Nos was relieved to see him calm. “More importantly, you are not useless, especially not to Nox. You have given him comfort even when he does not wish to talk. That’s all the reassurance he needs. You have done everything you can for Fletcher and Darwin, and we will get in contact with their family.”

They both turned when they heard their baby girl babbling away, reaching out to her fathers.

Nosfer laughed. “Well, that brightened my day. I have another grandchild you failed to tell me about.”

Nos shook his head. “I do not keep tabs on the children from other universes and you were off for four years. How was I supposed to contact you?” Nos smirked, but his expression dissipated into worry. “How is Fletcher, is he alright?"

Nosfer nodded. “He’s good, just a bit shaken up, but ALD is doing his best to make him feel at home. That Darwin seems to anchor him, too.” Nosfer smiled, “You know, I think Nox seems alright as well.”

“You noticed that, too? I was worried he may not be after opening up about Zurg.” XR winced. That topic was sensitive to say the least, strictly taboo at worst. For their son to talk about it... “I feel like I should be worried.”

Nosfer passed Ana to Nos, who wrapped her in his cape.

“Maybe Nox finds some common ground with the other child. He knows what it feels like to be taken to another world, this might have been just the push he needed to open up. Reminds me of a certain fiu of mine who used to be a stubborn mule with his feelings.”

Nos kissed his baby girl on the head, ignoring that comment. “I am just glad they are taking this so well. Rather, as well as we could hope.”

Nosfer’s smile faltered. “But under these circumstances, AL will come. That is what worries me the most when that copilul plânge idiotul used that contraption to throw my nepot into another universe!” Nosfer simmered. One crisis at a time.

XR frowned at the thoughtful silence. “You don’t think AL had a hand in this, do you?”

“If he did, he may be closer than we think,” Nosfer shook his head. “We need to prepare for anything.”

“I’ll get the security ready, wanna come with me sweetie?” XR asked.

Ana reached out and XR took her, making his way to the control room. Nos watched XR leave, trying not to think about how close AL might be.

 

 

Nebula glared down at his communicator but knew he had no choice. “If that means the project will be shut down…”

Janet came into the room right as the call ended. “What seems to be the trouble?”

“Your commanding officer is pissed off, that’s what! That Energy Vampire accused me of endangering kids that aren’t even his!”

“Really, sir?” Janet asked, a smirk growing across her face.

Nebula nodded, to distracted to notice her expression. “Tell the LGMs to keep the machine going. They have no idea what a successful run could do for this station, and if they really have such a big problem with it, they can send the kids back through our portal. I’d bet anything that once we get it up and running, nobody will be able to deny how much good we can do.”

Janet grinned, fangs peeking out. “Of course.” She left the room just as the real Janet walked in with her arms so full of paperwork that she couldn’t even see where she was going.

“That was fast.” Nebula smirked.

Janet raised a brow. “What’s fast? I just came from the faxing office, sir."

Nebula glared and slammed a button on the console. “Lockdown! I repeat, lockdown! There's an intruder in Star Command! I don't want anyone leaving!”

But by then the intruder was already gone.

The Antimatter Vampire sat on the surface of the moon of capital planet, eyeing the home of his enemies, his mind occupied by the little bat and his new friends.

AL looked down as he sensed the fear surging within the boys, malice flaring in his core. “Two little children are taken away, and the imitation parasite reacts violently to the overconfident fool?” He knew Nos was overprotective of his children, and as far as he could tell, he could sense a new Energy Vampire. “The real question is, who does this Energy Vampire belong to? Hmm... what do you think, Mr. Jackson?” He looked to the now empty space suit drifting into the void. He knew that replica was cautious of anyone being near his children, even those he had grown to trust. Already, AL was forming a plan. 

His faceplate cracked, exposing his endless teeth. “I’d best introduce myself when the time is right. For now," he ripped his hand off, “it’s time to do a little scouting. Be my eyes and tell me everything. I will be there soon.” He whispered before letting his hand go. The hand shifted and formed into a creature as it flew toward the planet.


	3. Chapter 3

Nos-4-a2 soldered the casing of a battery shut, blowing on it to cool it off before weighing it in his hands. He made sure nothing was loose before hooking it up to an ohmmeter and taking diligent notes of the reading, smiling to himself at the marked improvement over the previous design. There was little he liked as much as a job well done.  
  
He started wrapping things up and putting things away when he sensed someone approaching the lab. He smiled and looked toward the door, nodding at Two as she entered. The white probe hovered across the cavernous room to meet him. “I’m glad to see you’re closing up shop! I was worried you forgot we were having company over tonight.”  
  
Nos’s smile fell. “Company?”  
  
Two narrowed her eyeforms. “Rosie and Fred. We talked about it this morning.”  
  
“Oh! Oh, of course, but when you said ‘company’ I thought it would be something I had to... prepare myself for. I’ll just put on something a little nicer, I think I singed a hole through the big oil stain on this cloak,” Nos muttered.  
  
“Good,” Two laughed, kissing his cheek, “They’ll be here in half an hour. Theodore just left town, so they’re on their way from the aerospace port. I’m going to go bring the boys in, but I want you to promise me you’ll change into something that I wouldn’t use as a rag.”  
  
Nos gestured as if to roll his optic. “No need to be harsh, I haven’t completely forgotten my manners. Oh, and you might want to check the fields out past the gardens for Fletcher and Darwin. I haven’t felt them close by for a while.”  
  
“Right, thanks,” Two patted his shoulder before leaving through the back door of the lab, crossing the hall, and hovering through the library. She lifted off once she was outdoors to head over the gardens and check the fields first, focusing on her sensors as she had been trying to practice, but she didn’t get far at all before something terribly out of place caught her gaze. The big pear tree, one of the boys’ favorite shaded areas, looked like it had taken a beating. A finger of dread dragged down Two’s back.  
  
She flew back down, terror and disbelief rising. Leaves and smaller branches were torn and scattered about one side of the tree, littering a chunk of singed and ripped-up grass and dirt. A checkerboard sat nearby, overturned, the remaining pieces flung about. She could only stare, trying desperately to process what she was seeing, hoping against hope that the boys had found a way to make checkers explode and were hiding from the result, but there was no way a force that left a mess like this would leave either of the children unharmed. There was no trace of them to be found.  
  
Back inside the mansion, Nos froze at the wave of complete terror, grief, and denial radiating from Two. He launched outside, flying to her, only to find her on the verge of a breakdown. He reached out and did a sweeping scan immediately, hardly having found her before he saw what was wrong, but there was nothing he could do. Fletcher and Darwin were completely, utterly gone.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
ALD and the kids settled on the edge of the lake, local deer and moose coming out of hiding to drink and graze as if the group of robots weren’t even there. The lake was so clear, fish could be seen swimming close to shore. Mor sat on a large rock and threw berries into the water as Nox sat on the bank with Fletcher and Darwin. The pair of Earthlings stared, entranced, at the large mother bear and her cubs.  
  
ALD walked up to the bears and patted the mother, a creature big enough to easily crush him.  
  
Mor dumped the rest of her berries into the lake. “Stevie! I brought your favorite! Blueberries!”  
  
Nox giggled at her and looked to the boys. Although he hid his mood, his sister sensed his concern. Nox waited until Fletcher and Darwin were distracted by their own conversation before scooting closer to his twin. “Mor, do you think they are okay?”  
  
“I believe they are.” Mor spoke softly, “I am more concerned about you, big brother.”  
  
“I’m okay,” Nox reassured her, trying to smile, “just hoping  _he_  won’t show up. He always hurts everyone around us. I don’t want him hurting Fletcher or Darwin. They do not deserve that.”  
  
Mor looked down to see giant ripples in the surface of the lake. She beamed, “See? Stevie says it’s going to be okay.” Her face softened as she said, “You are safe and so are they, don’t get over stressed.”  
  
Nox smiled. “You’re right.”  
  
Fletcher and Darwin couldn’t tear their attention away from the bears, so awed for the moment that they managed to let their worries slip away. They still kept their distance, too unsure to get close, but Fletcher was just as happy to examine the alien plant life. “I can’t believe my first time off Earth is in another universe...”  
  
“I can’t believe there  _are_  other universes,” Darwin shook his head.  
  
“I don’t think it’s that crazy, all things considered. I’m mostly surprised people can travel between them. Hey, Nox,” Fletcher called, catching his attention, “is it true you’ve been to another universe?”  
  
Nox nodded and sat close to them again. “It was a few years ago. I wasn’t even five,” Nox retraced the memories, “I fell into a place called Toontown. It was in a completely different time period, practically ancient, and living cartoon characters existed there!” Nox smiled at the thought of the first toon he met, the boy who was so fast to adopt him as a brother. “I met a toon that was older than me by a few years. He was the coolest, and very kind to me.” Nox’s smile faltered a bit, haunted by the nightmares of all those twisted faces. “But… as fun as it was,  _he_  was there too and he hurt so many toons and people. He was able to find me through my dreams and this creepy way of smelling fear. He always finds me.” He felt his body shaking, remembering the pained voices.  
  
“...</i>‘He?’</i> Is that the guy who did all that awful stuff to you?” Darwin asked.  
  
Nox shook himself into the present. He nodded, suddenly finding himself holding back tears.  
  
Fletcher put his hand on Nox’s shoulder, “But you’re back here now, so it’s really possible to go home? Your dad wasn’t just saying that to make us feel better?”  
  
Nox held his own hands, knowing his other brother is safe, away from him. “Yes. That’s why our papa is determined to get you back home. He doesn’t want you going through what I went through. I don’t want anyone going through that at all.”  
  
ALD sat against the mother bear, enjoying the comfort. Sensing the tension and the upcoming relapse, he calls out to them. “Wanna lay with Juliet, kids? She’s comfy right now.”  
  
Mor’s legs transformed into a shape similar to Fletcher’s base but with sharper curves. She jumped up and flew to the bear, plopping face flat onto her fur. Nox shook his head and stayed next to Fletcher and Darwin.  
  
Darwin kept staring but stayed put. “I’m more comfortable from here, thanks.”  
  
“Me too... I don’t want to disturb her,” Fletcher mumbled.  
  
ALD shrugged and laid back on the bear, a nice breeze coming off the water.  
  
Darwin leaned back on his hands, his legs crossed. “I’m glad that it wasn’t just one of us who got pulled over here. I don’t know what I would’ve done in your place, Nox.”  
  
Fletcher curled up next to Darwin. “Yeah, and we don’t have an interdimensional, dream-intruding monster after us. The scariest thing that ever happened to me at home was some dumb bullies, and they’re only kids.”  
  
Nox shrugged. “That’s way better than a monster. I would rather stand up to bullies than have a monster chasing me. Then again, Mor terrifies most bullies.” Nox remembered a moment when Mor had been just as scary as their father.  
  
“I certainly don’t envy you,” Fletcher said.  
  
Nox laid back on the grass, curiosity in his optics,“So what is it like in your world?”  
  
Darwin looked up at the sky. “I guess it’s not too different from here. We don’t have living cartoons or anything. I mean, we don’t even have monsters. I guess it’s pretty plain compared to things here. We just do normal stuff, like going to school and playing video games. Our parents have jobs a lot less serious than working for the Galactic Alliance, my parents both have office jobs. The most exciting thing that I can think of is that we’re going to science camp this summer.”  
  
“Our planets are still very different,” Fletcher added, “I wouldn’t have guessed that Capital Planet has animals like the ones we have on Earth, though. My mom says that things on our planet are just ‘settling down.’ Earth was abandoned for seven centuries before people started coming back in the last forty years or so. People started a war because some of the Humans didn’t think we should go back.” Fletcher paused for a moment and started picking at the grass. “Mom left Earth after the war and traveled for a while, but she never really talks about that, so I don't know much about other planets. My parents are real home bodies.”  
  
Darwin brushed a few blades of grass off his shorts. “I wonder if they’ve noticed we’re gone yet.”  
  
Nox sat up, smiling to take their minds off their worries. “It’s really amazing though, I’m sure your parents are really cool!” Nox sat up with his back to the lake as he noticed the bear cubs coming toward them.  
  
Darwin turned to see what Nox was looking at and flinched, grabbing hold of Fletcher and looking toward the mother bear in apprehension. The cubs trotted right by them and slid down the bank to play in the water.  
  
“Don’t worry,” Mor called, snuggling into the mama bear’s back, “Juliet is really sweet. She’s kind to us because we helped take care of the cubs when they were babies.”  
  
“Especially when they imprinted on Nos.” ALD chuckled. “That was the funniest moment. He was so shocked, it was hilarious until I had to help get Juliet out of the house.  _That_  was not a pretty sight.” ALD shuddered.  
  
Fletcher sat sideways so he could watch both the mother and the cubs. “I’ve only ever heard of bears being super protective. Maybe that’s different between our universes, too?”  
  
ALD shook his head. “Oh, she attacks alright, she has a similar sense for things as we do; she can tell what is a threat.”  
  
“The animals here are not defensive toward us,” Mor added.  
  
ALD nodded. “She knows we mean no harm.”  
  
“That’s amazing,” Darwin said.  
  
Fletcher squinted and cocked his head toward ALD. “When you say she has senses ‘like we do,’ do you mean she can read electrical signatures?”  
  
Mor waved her hand in a so-so motion, “Not really.” She pointed to the lake. “But Stevie is like us, only he’s massively huge!” She raises both hands to exaggerate but lost her balance. She peeked her head over and smiles. “And he’s just as scary as papa.”  
  
Fletcher looked toward the lake. Stevie must have been some sort of fish, but... “How is that even possible?”  
  
ALD shrugged. “Natural selection. This creature can sense us as far away as 100 miles.”  
  
Darwin scooted closer to Fletcher. “If that means they can sense how nervous I am, I’m definitely not getting any closer.”  
  
Fletcher laughed and put his arm around Darwin's side. “Yeah, you’re a real beacon of distress.”  
  
Darwin rolled his optics. “As if you could be any better right now.”  
  
“You can blame Nos,” ALD stated, “This is his fault for getting attached to the forest and connecting himself to nature.”  
  
Fletcher was silent for a long, hard minute. “You don’t mean he  _turned_  these animals.”  
  
ALD shook his head. “If he did, we’d be in trouble. It’s more like... he learned.”  
  
Darwin murmured, “Nos learned from the bears...?”  
  
“He came to an understanding about nature, about accepting himself. That animalistic part that marks him as a monster. From what he told me while he was in hiding, when he was training to control his powers, he came across a wounded deer. At first he had no idea what to do, especially since it was the first time he ever came into contact with something so organic. Nosfer helped him treat the animal but as they were nursing the deer back to health, Nos always stood by it side. You could say he was like you children, he was curious about the deer. He had never seen anything like it. He was so intrigued, he began studying all about the animals, he even studied dinosaurs. Like the twins, he went out into the woods knowing it was not safe.” ALD looked to his niece. “Later on, he felt so at home in this forest that he built his house and family here.”  
  
Fletcher shook his head, starting to pick at the grass again. “Your Nos sounds a lot more complicated than mine, too. I don’t really know much about my dad from before I was born. He says he was built for something that he outgrew, so he left his home to make his own life and came to Earth. Robots are treated equal to organic people on my home, so a lot of alien robots live there.”  
  
“Times may have been different, but like your dad, Nos and I believe we are more than what we were made to be and live for who we are,” ALD nodded, “We may have been forced to do things we are not proud of, but in the end... here we are.”  
  
“I’m really sorry,” Darwin murmured.  
  
“Yeah, that sounds terrible... I can’t imagine my dad doing anything besides working in his lab.”  
  
ALD sensed they were feeling somber and decided to show them something cool. He stood up and walked over to them, opening his chest to reveal a sphere. The sphere was the size of a small baseball but it was striped through with blue and yellow waves, glowing like a pearl.  
  
Fletcher and Darwin’s eyeforms opened wide.  
  
“This is what you might call a soul. It helps stimulate us to grow and make us who we are,” ALD held his core carefully.  
  
Fletcher and Darwin both continued to gawk.  
  
Darwin finally managed, “I’ve never seen  _anything_  like that before.”  
  
“The older man you met earlier, Nosfer, helped Nos-4-a2 long ago to control his powers after he was rebooted. He learned later that the uni-core helps us understand things that most robots cannot.” ALD couldn’t help but wonder about Fletcher’s father now. Would that mean...  _that_  Nos had no siblings? Did ALD not exist in their universe?  
  
Fletcher seemed to address the core when he spoke. “Did Nosfer have something to do with building Energy Vampires?”  
  
“Well, not exactly,” ALD placed his core back inside. “He helped create the monster and the imbecile, but then again, the monster is the inspiration that lead to Nos, so in a sense… yes?”  
  
Darwin and Fletcher exchanged confused looks.  
  
“Monsters and imbeciles?” Darwin asked.  
  
“That is a story for another time, but rest assured the imbecile is unimportant.” ALD waved it off. “You see, Zurg was looking for a way to end his enemies when he came across AL_2_CAR-D. He made Nos in AL’s image. I, however, was made different. Instead of biting, I simply touch and absorb energy, robotic and organic... just like the Vampire I call an imbecile.”  
  
“I’ve never heard of absorbing organic energy,” Fletcher piped up, “but my mom takes electricity the same way through absorption fields in her fingers!”  
  
ALD wished he could smile, seeing the joy in the children’s optics. “That’s good to know.”  
  
“But what about AL_2_CAR-D?” Darwin asked, “Was he an old, prototypical Energy Vampire?”  
  
ALD watched Nox’s reaction but his nephew nodded. He continued, “You could call him that, but from experience, he’s a real monster.” ALD’s screen turned to a dull red. “From what I know about him, antimatter is his source of power and the existence of his madness. He can bite like a vampire but he injects his victims with antimatter. When it collides with the matter, all that’s left is energy. It is usually his choice how he uses it to hunt or fight. Nos contains the same source, but his is more controlled and less insane.”  
  
Fletcher shuddered. “I’ve had antimatter batteries a few times, but I never thought about a robot being completely powered by them.”  
  
Darwin shook his head, “But he  _injects_  people with antimatter?”  
  
ALD nodded.  
  
“I read that stable antimatter is almost nonexistent in our universe... how does he contain it? Is he not antimatter himself? No, that wouldn’t make sense, nevermind. Does he keep it in some sort of vacuum chamber inside his chassis?” Fletcher babbled.  
  
ALD couldn't help a twinge of amusement. This was Nos’s kid, alright. He reminded him of Nox. “AL has a way of controlling antimatter so it won’t affect other people or robots and even himself with a chamber like you said,” ALD sat up and showed an image on his screen, explaining the details. “The antimatter is not, for lack of a better term, ‘potent’ enough thanks to a special technique that thins out the antimatter particles, but even then it is dangerous when it is loose. You see, Nos is like AL, but his core helps stream the antimatter like a heart and this gives him total control. AL does not have one hence his excessive need of energy to keep the antimatter stable and to prevent it from destroying his body. It sucks up energy whilst it preserves the host. Under stress, it eats up the person to the point that they explode if given too much. You could almost consider it a parasite.”  
  
Fletcher shook his head, “I don’t really understand, but it sure sounds serious. I can’t imagine running on something that  _unstable._ ”  
  
Nox frowned, looking at his palm. He’d heard all of this before while in the confines of Zurg’s palace. The Evil Emperor boasted about his success in creating the perfect weapon and how the antimatter was stable in his father.  
  
 _Just imagine what destruction you could unleash, little Nox!_  
  
 _...I will finally have my ultimate weapon…_  
  
Nox began wondering if he and his sister had that ability. Just as he was about to ask, he froze in fear, sensing a presence that was all too akin to  _his._  Why now? Nox felt it wasn’t far, moving as if it was circling them.  
  
ALD sensed it as well, standing up to take a better look around the area. Fletcher felt the tension in their electrical signatures and reached out with his sensors to find what had them on alert, though he didn’t know what he should look for in this strange space. ALD knelt to the water and tapped something out in Morse code, knowing the monster was scrambling his energy reading. He just hoped Nos could sense the scramble as well.  
  
Mor leapt off of the bear and ran to her brother, holding him close as the forest fell into dead silence. Nox tried to follow its movements, giving ALD time to shift his left hand into a cannon.   
  
Suddenly, it seemed dangerous to move. Darwin and Fletcher slowly came together, linking their arms. Darwin managed to whisper, “What’s going on?”  
  
ALD craned his neck around, but he couldn't keep track of the intruder. “We’re being watched. A part of him is here somewhere. I fear it has been for a while.”  
  
“Who?” Fletcher stammered.  
  
“The monster we’ve been discussing,” ALD kept to the kids. “No matter what, stay by the lake. Do not run off.”  
  
Fletcher and Darwin scrambled closer to ALD. At this point, the bears took off into the trees. ALD enlarged his right claw and took a defensive stance over the children. Suddenly, Nox turned to the right. ALD fired in that direction, striking towards a red creature that skittered back into the trees.  
  
ALD glared down as his cannon warmed back up but knew he had to cover for them. He pulled out a device and dropped it close to them, creating forcefield around them.  
  
“Stay close to the device.” ALD stepped out of the protection of the force field.   
  
The children knelt close to the device, huddling together. Everybody’s attention snapped to a deformed, red wolf as it snarled and lumbered out of the brush from the eastside of the lake. Even from a distance, it seemed to have its gaze locked on Nox and Fletcher. The wolf let out a howl, its back bulging and sprouting numerous tentacles tipped with sharp talons.  
  
ALD knew this was some sort of distraction, but nevertheless, he had to take it down before  _he_  showed up. Just as it charged toward them, ALD’s screen split across to let out a roar. He charged the wolf, taking it head on, his left hand revealing a cannon in his palm that issued a blast strong enough to launch the wolf back against a tree. It quickly regained its footing, keeping its focus on the children. An unnatural grin broke across its face and dripped with black ooze. “Tasty, tasty,  _beautiful_  fear I smell. I wonder… could you taste as sweet?”  
  
ALD lunged to attack it again. “Eyes on me!” He unleashed another blast, drawing the wolf’s attention.  
  
The children kept away, clumped around the device at the edge of the water. Nox, through his fear or maybe fueled by it, extended his hand to send out a blast of his own, but he froze when he noticed a glimmer of red farther back in the trees. For Nox, there was no mistaking that presence. It was  _him._  
  
“N-no! S-st-st-st-stay away!” Nox cried, aiming his shaking hand at the emerging Antimatter Vampire.  
  
“Hello Little Bat, did you miss me…?” AL smirked, showing thousands of his sharp teeth. “I’ve certainly missed you…”  
  
Mor was the first to fire a blast, but AL_2_CAR-D caught it in his palm like it was nothing.  
  
“I see you’ve gotten better since the last time we met, Little Red.” The towering monstrosity shifted the blast, increasing its energy and firing it at ALD, who was still trying to keep the wolf at bay. ALD screeched in pain. “Hmm, not good enough.” AL taunted.   
  
ALD watched AL step closer to the kids, memories of Nox being experimented on running through his mind. Shaking in rage, he threw the beast and charged at AL, but the wolf righted itself fast enough to stomp him down. It bit ALD’s arm so hard that it nearly sliced through. The black and white Energy Vampire reacted by sending the wolf flying, finally managing to damage it. ALD stood up. Even though his arm was busted, his sight was on the red Antimatter Vampire.  
  
“Don't you touch them!!” ALD ran to attack the red demon.  
  
“Must you try so hard?” AL spoke boredly and moved so fast he may have teleported, slamming ALD to the ground. ALD struggled to get up, his vision going blurry. He saw his nephews and niece trying to hold back their fear, and in that moment, that was the only thing that mattered.  
  
“You never learned to keep to where you belong. You are no different than before,” AL drove his foot into the Energy Vampire’s side, the children crying out. “You're still just another failed copy, the last survivor of an embarrassing experiment.” He kicked him again, harder. “Your older brother isn’t here to save you.” AL stepped on ALD’s head and started press down, “Die, pitiful fool.”  
  
“St-st-stop it!” Nox cried out.   
  
AL looked to them, specifically at the young hybrid and the other, purple Energy Vampire.  
  
Desperate, Nox kept shooting beams of energy at AL, hoping to distract the Antimatter Vampire, but they were dispersed like nothing in the deft hand of the monster. ALD stood up but he had to dodge and fight off the wolf once again. His only hope was that the forcefield would last long enough for his brother to arrive, and hopefully, the wolf won’t take out his head.  
  
AL stepped to the edge of the forcefield. He tapped on it, his smirk growing wider. Reeling his arm back, he claws down at the forcefield, destroying it in one blow.   
  
“My my, it’s true after all, and here I thought it was all in my head.” AL took a moment, enjoying the smell of fear. “There is no denying it! I smell another child of a different Nos-4-a2. I smell such delicious fear and confusion within you, little blue bat, but I smell the most exquisite distress,” AL drawled, pointed a claw at Darwin, “coming from you, boy.”  
  
Fletcher tensed and hugged Darwin from behind, pulling him closer to the water and farther from the monster. AL’s talons grew, glistening and secreting a dark, antimatter ooze that made the air flash and bored a crater where it fell in the dirt. Nox shook but held his ground in front of the others, trying with all of his might to channel a blast, but he was losing his composure as his nightmare came closer.   
  
Just as AL came within striking range, a glowing tentacle shot out of the water to attack him. AL darted away, hissing, his body steaming. “How dare you!” He slashed at it as another shot out toward his wolf. The tendrils seemed to replenish themselves at the same rate the antimatter ate them away, and to make matters worse, it was absorbing the resultant energy itself.  
  
Before AL could make another move toward them, he sensed power approaching from the depths of the water and a source of rage at the edge of the forest that could rival a speeding freight train. Not far off, the force field that Zurg had supplied him with was being compromised. “Perhaps another time then, children.” AL was no fool. Self preservation came first. He whistled to the wolf as it began to tear into ALD, and it dashed back to its owner as commanded, shrinking into a hand and reattaching itself. “Sweet nightmares, children,” AL unfurled his red feathered wings, “I will be coming for you.” He flew into the air and disappeared as suddenly as he’d arrived.  
  
Darwin, still wrapped in Fletcher’s arms but somewhat splayed on the ground, grabbed the hybrid’s hands and held them tight. “That was  _him?_  Like, right here? What is he doing here? What was that in the lake? Where did he go, I-I thought he couldn't get to Capital Planet!”  
  
Nox panicked even more, doing everything he could to calm himself while Mor helped him. ALD, on his knees, held his badly torn arm so it wouldn’t fall and become any worse. His voice came out strained as he did everything he could to stay online. “Like I said... he doesn’t care about rules…” It was all he could manage before falling.  
  
The twins rushed to their uncle’s side. Mor was too scared to try and help her uncle as a panic attack threatened to engulf her brother.  
  
“What do we do?” Fletcher’s voice broke, “Isn’t he your guardian? W-We’re totally exposed now!”  
  
In much the same way as AL disappeared, Nos-4-a2 emerged over the treetops alongside a giant bat.They both touched down and the bat turned into Nosfer. The old man ran to his grandchildren, “Are you alright my nepoți?!”  
  
Darwin’s attention snapped to the new arrivals and he tried to feel relief, but he couldn’t quite manage it. He somehow became even more tense when he felt a damp warmth on his shoulder. Fletcher was completely still, oil leaking from the base of his visor. “We were attacked,” Darwin croaked, not sure what else to say, not quite sure if he even believed it.  
  
Nos knelt to tend to his brother, hastily fixing what he could so that he could make it back to the mansion.   
  
“I am terribly sorry, we had a little trouble getting here. There was a force field around this part of the forest. I’m not as spry as I use to be,” Nosfer rubbed Nox’s back, starting to hum a tune to calm him.   
  
Fletcher found his voice, “We were trapped in here with that monster?”  
  
“If he wanted you trapped, he would have done a better job hiding it,” Nosfer shook his head, “The force field must not have been to keep things out, it was too easy to break through.”  
  
“He was catching your frequency.” Nos realized under his breath. AL must have been blocking external energy signatures so he could learn more about the kids. He finished working on ALD, helping him come online.  
  
ALD staggered to his feet, faltering and growling. “I should have been more aware. I'm so sorry Fletcher.”  
  
“Why me?” Fletcher’s voice wavered, “We were all in the same amount of danger, weren't we?”  
  
Nos crossed his arms, trying to calm himself. “Yes, but when he sensed you are from another universe, he sensed you are akin to Nox and Mor. He sensed that small connection we have so he knew who you were. He intends to get to you through your mind now."  
  
“That's how he tracks you, that's how he tracks me down.” Nox began to dissolve into tears, hugging himself, “I'm sorry Fletcher.”  
  
“Stop!” Fletcher snapped, tears welling in rage and terror, making the Nox flinch and huddle away from him. “Stop saying that like I’m already done for! Why would he want me, anyway?! He doesn’t know anything  _about_  me, we just want to go  _home!_ ”  
  
“What if he follows us? Can he follow us?” Darwin rasped.  
  
Nos shook his head as Nox clung to him, overwhelmed with fear and guilt. “He cannot last long in another universe even if he found some form of source to help stabilize his power.” Even as he said it, his mind worked through the details. In that case, why open the portal at all?  
  
ALD shook his head. “I hate to admit it but we're gonna need to call DRAC for help.” Nosfer held him up, putting ALD’s good arm around his shoulders and holding his hip.  
  
“Did you find anything out?” Darwin asked, holding Fletcher as he shook. “Can we go home soon?”  
  
Nos looked to the sky and back to them. “We may have a solution, but we cannot talk here. Let us head back home.”  
  
Fletcher stalled, only moving when Darwin pulled him along.  
  
Nos stopped them. “One moment.” He floated to the lake and a gelatinous, opalescent tentacle extended from the water. The tentacle slithered into Nos’s hand. “Thank you, Stevie, for protecting them. I am relieved you were here the whole time.” A strange, ethereal roar broke the surface of the lake and the tentacle slipped away, snaking back into the water.  
  
Darwin could hardly think of words to express how terrible he felt about everything, and frankly, even if the creature in the lake protected them,  _it was some sort of tentacle creature in a lake._  “What is that thing?”  
  
Mor waved toward the water. “Bye Stevie! I love you!”  
  
“He is a large serpent that I have taken care of for the past few years. He was the reason AL could not come near you. It eats off anything that is a threat to the forest and AL was a threat. Come along now, we can talk more inside.”  
  
They left the forest as the sun set. ALD, limping along with Nosfer, couldn’t have felt worse about how their excursion had turned out. “I am sorry children, I just wanted you to have fun.”  
  
Fletcher was so dazed for a moment that he almost grabbed onto Nos’s wrist before remembering he wasn’t his father. He thought better of it and hung back a bit, putting his arm around Darwin to lean on him. Darwin leaned into Fletcher as well, both of them supporting each other. Darwin spoke without thinking, “Thanks, Stevie.”  
  
The serpent wailed from the lake and something flew out of the water, flying directly to Darwin and hitting him hard on the back of the head before thumping to the ground. The pair stopped to turn around. The white android stooped to pick it up, turning it over in his hands. It was a gorgeous, opalescent shell. “Mor, look...”  
  
The girl analyzed the shell and squealed, grabbing his shoulders. “You have a shell from his underbelly! That’s where his heart is! That means he really likes you, he doesn’t give those to just anyone!”  
  
Darwin’s eyeforms grew wide. “That’s... nice,” Darwin gave Fletcher a sideways glance, but the hybrid was still in shock. He reached over to grab Fletcher’s shoulder. “I guess I really like Stevie, too."  
  
Nos looked back, feeling a complete lack of electrical emissions from Fletcher, who was skilled at masking his presence. The hybrid’s face was blank and tearstained, his eyeforms fixed on the ground, making something uncomfortable squirm in Nos-4-a2’s chest.  
  
“He needs you too, Papa,” Nox whispered when he noticed his father’s line of sight. Nos blinked, his optics flicking between his son and the boy from the other dimension. Nox nodded and nudged his father.  
  
It took a moment for Nos to make up his mind and slow down so that he matched Fletcher and Darwin’s pace. He cleared his throat. “Fletcher?”  
  
The hybrid seemed to emerge from a fog to look up at him.  
  
Nos held out his hand and smiled. “Would you like to hold my hand?”  
  
Fletcher stared. Same talons, same palm, same color. He looked back up at the Energy Vampire’s face. “But... I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. I’m sorry, I just... I want to see  _my_  dad.”  
  
“I would like to get to know you, though. You are still my family,” the older Energy Vampire smiled. “I will get you home, I promise.”  
  
Fletcher swallowed hard. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no words came out. He finally conceded to put his hand into the strange Nos-4-a2’s. Nos carefully closed his fingers around Fletcher’s and squeezed. “Let us head home.”  
  
Nox smiled and looked to Darwin’s shell, happy to see Stevie gave him a gift. “You know, Stevie is a really special serpent. His shells are said to disrupt bad dreams, as told in old tales from the planet he onced lived on.”   
  
Darwin ran his thumb over the grooves in the shell. “Do you think it protects dreams from AL_2_CAR-D?”  
  
Nox nodded and pulled a chord from around his neck, showing his own wire-wrapped shell.  
  
“How does it work, then?” Darwin asked, “Do you just keep it close?”  
  
Nox nodded again and placed a hand on his chest. “From what I read, you keep it to your heart, that way the bad dreams won’t come. Not even AL can break through.”  
  
Darwin came back into step with Fletcher and slipped the shell into his free hand. “I don’t know why he wants you, but we still can’t let him track you.”  
  
Fletcher took it loosely even though he hadn’t quite heard their conversation, but when he turned his eyeforms to meet Darwin’s, his shoulders relaxed. He let Darwin’s signature wash over his sensors and a few more droplets of oil seeped from the base of his visor. He held the shell to his chest and wiped his face on his sleeve. “Thanks.”  
  
Nox smiles but still kept a small distance from Fletcher, guilt was still circulating in his systems. He looked back to the sky only to see a faint red shape in the distant dusk, tripping over his feet to run to his father’s side.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
AL hissed as he glared at the lake, his gaze following Nos-4-a2 all the way home. He knew he had to leave or else DRAC would find him, his so-called brother who had locked him away. He smirked. He got what he needed, and even more, he’d found another way to break Nos, that  _parasite_. “I will get my chance, and when I do, I will take pleasure in destroying you, Nos-4-a2.” He laughed as he flew into the ever darkening sky. “You and everything you hold dear…”


	4. Chapter 4

As night cloaked the land, everyone across the city and small towns were finding places to observe the grand show of the meteor shower. One house tucked against the border of Valder Forest had front row seat of the spectacular show.  
  
Nox gazed at the night sky and grinned as his sister came in wearing her purple, ankle length nightgown. “Fletcher! Darwin! Come to the balcony!” The meteor shower would be starting any minute, and the adults were busy setting up sleeping bags and blankets in the living room. As a surprise, they hadn’t said a word of this to Fletcher or Darwin.   
  
Fletcher, still clutching the shell to his chest, followed Darwin out to the balcony. Nox and Mor pointed to the night sky as they cautiously stepped over the threshold. The sky was unlike anything the Earthlings had ever seen, an endless expanse of ever-brightening diamonds showered over the dust of numerous stars. The pair gaped like a couple of dead fish.  
  
“It’s different from our sky,” Darwin whispered.  
  
Fletcher shook his head. “I thought it could only look like this in enhanced photos...”  
  
Mor smiled and pointed to a particularly bright point of light. “See the biggest star over there? Earth is in that direction.”  
  
“I wonder if there are weird versions of the rest of our parents out there, too,” Darwin mumbled.  
  
Nox stood by quietly by the wall, happy to see they were feeling at least somewhat better than before. He couldn’t push past the thought that  _he_  might show up at any moment. Nox perked at his sister. She waved for him to come closer but he shook his head. She frowned in understanding.  
  
Nos watched the boys gazing at the night sky. He smiled along with XR as they entered the room. They shared a look and Nos nodded.  
  
XR cleared his throat, “Hey Fletcher, Darwin, there’s someone on the comm link for you. It is a very special call.”  
  
Fletcher whipped around as fast as he could, Darwin’s eyeforms opened as wide as they could go.  
  
“After a few tweaks and calculations, we got a link. We had to change the way some of our settings are configured, but we can make a live video connection now.” Nos said.  
  
Fletcher and Darwin scrambled over each other to see. “Where?!”  
  
“It’s already set up downstairs in the communication room.” XR answered. “We wanted to make sure you and your parents see each other. Luckily, we were able to detect your dad's signal from this universe.”   
  
Nos held his hand out for Fletcher. Fletcher hesitated again, but Darwin took it and grabbed Fletcher's hand in his free one. “Please take us!”  
  
The second they left, Mor sat next to her brother, no words were necessary to comfort her brother. Just as it was quiet, Mor stood up and held her hand to him.  
  
“Let's go see!” She grins. “I know you want to Nox.” She sang. Nox, although nervous and scared, grabbed her hand and let her lead him to the control room.  
  
Nos lead them down to a small, sparsely decorated room with a large screen occupying one wall. It had all the same warm tones as the rest of the house, deep reds and purples, though it was more muted here. The real attention grabbers were all the controls on the consoles. These physical buttons on pale metal panels were nothing like the black glass, touch-sensitive interfaces back home.   
  
“Give me a moment and we'll be online.” XR began typing away, hitting a final key with a flourish to bring up a live feed. Well... there should have been, but the screen was totally black. Both twins peeked through the doorway and stood by their uncle, hoping this was not a dead contact.  
  
“That can’t be right,” XR began typing again. He couldn’t let them down. “I know I got the connection...”  
  
Everyone stared with bated breath until a placid voice came through: “...Master Fletcher, Darwin ‒ ?”  
  
“Quinn!” Fletcher sobbed, his fingers shaking against Stevie's shell. Darwin put his hand on his face beneath his visor.  
  
“Your parents have...” there was something almost like confused static. “Nos-4-a2? But you’re... boys, please hold on. I’ve alerted your parents and they’re waiting in the study.”  
  
Not a moment passed before the screen came to life, revealing Nos-4-a2; a sleek, white probe; a squat, balding human man; and a human woman with tight, red ringlets. There was a chorus of exclamations of relief and confusion before it died down enough for Darwin to manage, "Something really, really, crazy happened."  
  
The woman, Rosie, blurted, “Are you safe? Where are you? Who are these people?!”  
  
“I-I don't know if we’re safe,” Fletcher stammered, “really scary stuff is going on here. I don’t know how to tell you where we are, we were just... taken.”  
  
“Taken? Were you kidnapped?!” the white probe, Two, called out.  
  
“No, there was this portal ‒ ” Darwin started.  
  
“We went outside to bring you in and you were just gone, and there’s this big hole in the yard!” Two wrung her hands.  
  
“Wait,” Fletcher’s father spoke. His optic turned sharp and dark, locking onto his mirror image. He seemed to bristle. “What is going on here?”  
  
Before XR could defend him, Nos stopped him by holding his hand. XR bit back the words. ‘They're just worried over their kids. It’s not an attack on Nos.’   
  
Nox hid behind his fully repaired uncle. That other Nos-4-a2’s tone was all too familiar when it came to questioning his father.  
  
Nos took a moment. “Please, allow me to explain. Two interdimensional portals emanated enough energy to not only clash but to open a portal that transported your children to our world. Just like you, we were concerned for their well-being. When we learned who their parents were, we knew immediately that this was no coincidence and that we had to get them home as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this whole mess has attracted the attention of an older Antimatter Vampire that is hellbent on harming not only our children but your children as well. This monster is like ‒ the monster is like who I used to be but he is a mad psychopath that works with my creator, Zurg.”   
  
Nos watched the reaction of his look-alike. The Nos on the other side of the screen tensed and the small probe beside him glanced at him from the corner of her visor. “But above all, your children are safe.”  
  
“Please,” Two’s voice was just above a whisper, “there must be something we can do."  
  
The man, Fred, shook his head. “Anything! Can you send us the specs to build a machine here to bring them back?”  
  
“With Nebula’s portal still active, introducing another source of energy may separate your children by molecules and send parts of them across the dimension. It is a risk we cannot take.” Nos could see they were far beyond feeling scared. As a parent, it was painful to witness.  
  
Fletcher’s father shook, his hands gripping the desk. “So what  _can_  we do?”  
  
ALD walked up to the screen, “If we destroy the two portals, the energy that caused this fiasco will disappear. With that gone, we can activate our portal and send your children home safely, no disintegration or ‒ ” he stopped mid sentence, knowing that was only throwing fuel onto the fire. “They’ll be safe.”  
  
“But how long will that take?” Rosie asked.  
  
“Well, as far as Star Command goes, we already have my brother destroying that portal. Hopefully he doesn't screw it up,” XR chimed in. He could only hope XL wasn’t destroying the entire space station. Again.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
XL cackled, oh how he missed burning and blowing things up. “Burn, baby, burn!” He wantonly slammed his fist into a computer, hitting the self destruct button.  
  
“Oops…”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“As soon as Star Command’s portal is off, the next portal is on Planet Z,” XR explained.  
  
The Earthbound Nos visibly flinched, horror written in every line of his face. ALD couldn’t help but shudder. He’d never seen this side of his brother before, like he was so... vulnerable.  
  
XR’s husband crossed his arms. He needed to speak to his counterpart. He needed to know. “May I speak to you, Nos-4-a2? Privately?"  
  
The Energy Vampire’s optics couldn’t hide his mistrust, but he nodded. “As long as we’ll have more time to talk to Fletcher and Darwin.”  
  
The boys began to protest, not ready to leave their parents so soon.  
  
“Of course I will allow them to speak to you.” Nos knew there was no trust but he understood it well. “I assure you, this will not take long.”   
  
“Boys, it’s alright,” Fletcher’s father said. “We’ll be right here for you.”  
  
Two narrowed her eyeforms. “Do you want us to leave as well?”  
  
Nos nodded. “It is important I speak to him alone. There is a matter we need to discuss.”  
  
“Why can’t you speak to all of us?” Fred asked.  
  
“Frederick, I think he may be right. Anything of import he tells me, I’ll relay to you all.”  
  
XR looked to Nos. He trusted his mate, he just didn't know how the other Nos might react. It was only safe to assume they were similar. “Just let us know when to come back.”   
  
Nos nodded and kissed his hand in reassurance. “I promise.”  
  
Darwin and Fletcher went, reluctantly, with XR. Two held Rosie’s hand and walked her out of Nos’s office and into the library, Fred following behind them. ALD was hesitant but wouldn’t argue with his brother. This was something Nos needed to know. He just hoped they were different enough for their own sake.  
  
Both Energy Vampires waited until everyone left.  
  
“Mor, Nox, it is very important that this is between only us for now,” Nos said to the apparently empty room.  
  
The twins appeared out of nowhere but he could see they did not wish to leave. “Please my gems, this may be a bit too sensitive.”  
  
Mor wanted to say no but she knew her father had his reasons.  
  
“Okay...” she spoke under her breath.  
  
Nos kissed each of them on their heads, “It will not take long, I promise.  
  
“We love you.” Nox said softly  
  
Nos smiled to them, “I love you too, both of you.” He lead them out.   
  
Mor was the first to leave, and Nox was almost through the door when he took a moment to look back. The distant Nos’s expression softened. In all the confusion and chaos, he couldn’t help his soft spot for kids.  
  
Nos turned to his counterpart and noticed he was, if not calm, significantly less agitated. “I would not rob you the right to see your son. I’m not a monster.”  
  
Nos laughed, but it held no mirth. Shadows hung from his optics. “Calm down, I didn’t think you wouldn’t let us see them, I just didn’t know if we were working with a time limit. I think you’ll forgive me if I can’t trust myself, though. If we have the same origin, you should know that we’re not made to be good people.”  
  
Nos rolled a servo. He understood why, to his mate, the dark and threatening look was nothing if not pushing for a fight. This wasn’t the time nor the place, so he smothered his instincts and kept a level head. “We may have been made as weapons for that oversized crybaby, but there’s nothing we can do to change that. That does not matter. After all, here we are. Talking.”  
  
The Earthling took a long moment to think before rubbing his temples. “...So. XR?”  
  
Nos blushed deeply, but it quickly faded away. “That is unimportant and none of your business.” He glowered before he could stop himself. What business was it of this look-alike?  
  
“I suppose,” the other Nos mumbled, shrugging. “Interesting to know that more than one version of myself was destined for domesticity. Maybe we are fundamentally more than weapons.” A befuddled warmth came into his expression.  
  
The twin’s father gave him a stern look. “All I want is for Fletcher and Darwin to return home, to safety. I do not wish harm upon them or anyone else, especially under these circumstances.” He crossed his arms. “This I promise you.”  
  
“Then we’re in agreement.”  
  
Nos’s gaze lowered before he continued. “Yes, but there is a problem. As I said before, there is an Antimatter Vampire and he has his sight on our children. I fear he is after your son as much as he is after my own for reasons that may be similar. He wants to break us.”  
  
“But why? What does he have against me, I’ve...” Nos reeled, “I’ve never even heard of such a thing as an Antimatter Vampire!”  
  
“Then he is either offline in your world, or he never existed to begin with. It is impossible to say what our universes will throw at us. But then again, you could be lying to me.” Nos’s optic flashed.  
  
“...If you’ve been talking to Fletcher, I don’t blame you for calling me a liar. I never wanted him to know anything about the life I came from. Hell, I do everything I can to forget about it myself, and I can only hope he won’t hold it against me if he figures anything out.”  
  
“Regardless, it is no coincidence your son was taken here. I need to know if there’s a mining asteroid for antimatter anywhere near you. The monster may be searching for more forms of antimatter, and if you even have a smidge, it can be just as dangerous in your universe as it is here. He may use the children to find a passage to that location.” Now that AL knew who Fletcher’s father was... Nos shooed the thought away.  
  
"I mean, I know that antimatter is collected in this universe, but I have no idea how that stacks up relative to your world! I have a few power cells here in reserve, but there isn’t any antimatter in them, they’re just charged with energy collected from antimatter-matter annihilation reactions,” the Earthling shook his head.  
  
Nos stuck his arm out, releasing a thin smoke of gaseous antimatter that crackled and fizzed in the air. “I am  living proof of how dangerous it can be, and I don’t use it nearly as violently as AL_2_CAR-D. That monster can and will distribute this in any way he wants. If he enters your realm, you need to have another Energy Vampire to aid you.”  
  
“My wife and I are the only ones here besides Fletcher, and there’s no part of us that’s prepared for... for combat!” Nos scoffed, “I’ve thrown that part of my life away, and Eve only knows the peaceful parts of being what we are. Fletcher doesn't even know he can control robots, nevertheless use his powers to fight at all! If we can’t keep the Antimatter Vampire away, that’s it.”  
  
“There is another place you can go in your universe. There is a planet here called Transylvania, and there lives another vampire. If there is such a planet in your dimension, he can help you. I know you would not dare set foot on Planet Z so I would not advise it.”  
  
“Are you suggesting I come to your universe then? There aren’t any other Energy Vampires here, I was just one of many power plays gone wrong for Zurg.”  
  
The twins’ father crossed his arms, “I am not implying that you come over, seeing as you want no trouble. I am helping you find more in your universe. There are more, you are just afraid to look further. To face your past is to face yourself, but it does not make you who you are, it only shows how you’ve grown. Your son needs you, he has faced so much in one day. He is a brave child whether he believes it or not.”  
  
 _Great, a preacher._  Nos rolled his optic. “Have you considered that things are  _different_  in this  _alternate dimension?_  I guarantee I'm the only Energy Vampire here; I've looked before, long and hard. It’s one of the only reasons I’ve been allowed parole on Earth instead of being locked up on PC-7 until I rot. Space Rangers aren’t a huge fan of our kind here.  
  
“And I’d thank you to mind your  _own_  children. I may not have been made for this, but I know that nothing good can come of my boy finding out I’m a tailor-made weapon. He’s been through too much as it is, I won’t let him face my past on top of it all.”  
  
“It was not easy for my children.” Nos spoke calmly. He understood what he feared. “They had to learn about my past when they were only three. I wish XR and I could have explained it to them when they were older, but life tends to make these things challenging. We were on Star Command and some Rangers spat terrible lies to hurt my son. He was so agitated that he almost cracked the space station in half ‒ he would have done it if my mate and I had not calmed him. Because of my mistaken trust in Star Command, Zurg found out about my son and kidnapped him. I am just warning you that sooner or later Zurg will find out about your child, I only want to help you avoid what we’ve had to go through.”  
  
Fletcher’s father bit back a snarl, but he couldn’t keep his shoulders from shaking. “What else do you expect if you’ve set up shop on  _Capital Planet?_  Even more than that,  _you_  took your kids to  _Star Command,_  the place that has more bias against us than anywhere else in the galaxy! I live as far away from conflict as I could get, I’ve been declared dead, I’m in protective services that keep me from being found! Even when an old villain managed to discover me, the police were on it so fast, there’s no chance of word ever leaking! When I decided to have a family, I did everything in my power to make sure that nothing would  _ever_  happen to them.”  
  
Nos sighed. “Rules can only go so far, I hope you know that. I did not ‘set up shop’ as you put it, I will not force my mate to give up his career for me. In fact, if my children wish to be Space Rangers, I will support them,” Nos kept his tone level, but he could only feel fear for this Energy Vampire. “Your son will be asking you questions after learning about me. Are you prepared to face him?”  
  
The Earthling’s jaw tightened. “We’re not the same person. Fletcher’s as smart as they come, and I’m sure he knows as much. With all the differences between our worlds, he hasn’t learned anything more about his real father.”  
  
Nos shook his head. “If there is one thing I have learned about having children, it is that they have a knack for finding these things out. We are no different and yet we are, that is true, and Fletcher can go on believing a lie or fearing the truth. However, I sense confusion in him, and AL will be prepared to take advantage of that if he gets the chance, as unlikely as that is. If you do not tell Fletcher, AL can twist that truth to break him. He tried to do the same thing to my son. What will you do then?"  
  
“If you truly care about Fletcher, you’ll make sure that AL doesn’t get the chance. What we really need to figure out is how to shut down the portal on Planet Z. Fletcher and Darwin need to come home more than anything.”  
  
Nos let it go for now and began explaining. “So far, the plan is to have my brother sneak onto Planet Z and destroy the portal. Hopefully, AL will be none the wiser. I cannot guarantee that he will succeed, but I have great faith ‒ ” Nos froze, sensing his son as he became visible to the naked eye.  
Nox stood, shaking in the corner with tears running down his face.  
  
“How long has  _he_  been here?!” panic bled across the distant robot’s face.  
  
Nox flinched at the way he spoke. “I heard... everything,” Nox continued to tremble but stood his ground. “Please know my papa means well and,” the young hybrid stole his nerves. “I have learned that even if the truth hurts, it is like a scar; it fades with time.” Nox didn't want to remember but he shook his head before he could think twice of the experience. “I know my papa did bad things, but he did good, too. Hiding what you did... what  _they_  did to you hurts.” Nox blinked through a few more tears. “Zurg hurt me to make me an Energy Vampire to be his weapon. It wasn’t Papa’s fault for placing trust in anyone or because he set up shop here. It was my grandfather Nebula’s fault for not believing in him and forcing him into a tight spot not even my dad could get out of. I’m proud of who my father is. He’s my hero.”  
  
Nos held him close and wiped the tears away. “I will let Fletcher and Darwin in to see you. We are done speaking.”  
  
“Wait ‒ ”  
  
Nos opened the door only for almost everyone to topple over each other.   
  
“Nos!” XR scrambled upright, nervous laughter in his speakers. “The light of my life! Are you guys finished?”  
  
The Energy Vampire crossed his arms, “You were listening in on the conversation again.”  
  
XR could tell his Nos was not amused. “What? No! I was uh ‒ leaning! Yeah, definitely, for balance. I certainly didn’t hear anything about emotional fear or conflict!"  
  
Mor crossed her arms, staring down the robot on the screen. “I heard no such...” her optics glowed.  
  
ALD shrugged. “I’ll be honest, I was listening in. Now I need to release some anger but that can wait.”  
  
Darwin and Fletcher peered in from where they were sitting against the wall facing the door, standing up to come back inside.  
  
Nos swallowed, his mouth dry. “Boys, a-are you okay?”  
  
Fletcher cocked his eyeform. “No worse than we were before. Are you okay? You look freaked out.”  
  
Nos glared at his counterpart and all of the eavesdroppers. “We’re just figuring some things out, it’s fine. I’m worried about you two, but I know everybody else here wants you home.” He locked gazes with the other Nos and Nox in particular. “We don’t want either of you to deal with anything you don’t have to.”  
  
ALD cleared his speakers. “They are family, we will not let anything harm them.”  
  
Nos let out a shaky sigh, turning his head to call, “Eve. Everyone, please come back in.”  
  
Rosie wiped her eyes as everyone regrouped. “So? How are we getting you home?”  
  
“Well, I’m going to sneak in and destroy Zurg’s portal. It should distract AL long enough to get your children to your universe safely.” ALD answered.  
  
Mor pretended to wipe a tear away. “I will mourn for you uncle."  
  
ALD gave her a thumbs up. “Don’t forget to immortalize my tale: the bot who was a better uncle than that headcase, XL.”  
  
Two waited for them to finish before scrutinizing ALD. “You’d risk everything for our children?”  
  
ALD suddenly felt the gravity of the four parents on the screen and nodded. “Of course I would, they don’t deserve to go through this mess. Besides, I want to even my score with the bogeyman. Above all, Fletcher is my nephew and Darwin might as well be, too. Their lives are just as important as my nieces’ and nephew’s.”  
  
Fletcher flushed with static. “I... I don’t want you to get hurt again.”  
  
“Hey, it’s ok,” ALD pet Fletcher’s head and displayed a smiley face on his screen. “I’m not going to let any more harm come to my family,” he looked back at Two. “So, does this make you my sister in law?”  
  
Two cocked her eyeform in much the same way as Fletcher, the first hint of a smile coming into her visor. “I suppose, if that’s something you can have across dimensions. I couldn’t care less, though. If you’re doing this for our boys, you’re family to me."  
  
“We can’t thank you enough,” Fred nodded fervently.  
  
ALD’s screen turned red. “Another point for me over Nutso,” he hummed to himself.  
  
“What?” Rosie squinted.  
  
XR rubbed the back of his head. “ALD has an ongoing rivalry with my brother, it’s easier better if you just ignore it."  
  
“Well, I don’t care,” Two shook her head, “Any of you, all of you, if you’re helping Fletcher and Darwin come home, I love you like my own.”  
  
“But is there any way for us to keep in contact?” her husband asked, “And if they’ve already been attacked, what are you doing to protect them?”  
  
“This home of ours is equipped with the highest security, and we can use our portal as reception to connect with your world, so contacting you is simple. I also have a friend who knows AL_2_CAR-D very well. He is en route to help us,” the twins’ father answered.  
  
“And Stevie!” Mor piped up. “He’ll protect us!”  
  
Fred leaned close to the camera. “Darwin, Fletcher, please don’t leave the house. I don’t want either of you on your own.”  
  
“We don’t want that, either,” Darwin shuddered, “We’ve been here a few hours and terrible stuff has already happened outside.”  
  
Fletcher nodded solemnly. “You couldn’t pry me out of this house for a million bucks.”  
  
Mor hugged them tightly from behind. “I'll keep them safe!”  
  
Nox could see her arms constricting like an anaconda. “Mor, you’re crushing them, let go.”  
  
Fletcher smiled through his wince while Darwin struggled, and Two clasped her hands over her motherboard. Mor grinned at her twin, her fangs glistening. Nox knew that look all to well and took the initiative to start running.  
  
“Come back here, Nox!” Mor relinquished the Earthlings and took off after her brother.  
  
XR chuckled. “Twins... they love each other, and then they go crazy. Excuse me,” the ranger followed after them, “Stop scaring your brother!”  
  
Rosie watched them go before hugging herself, the weight of her worry starting to show. “Never in a million years could I have imagined something like this happening. I don't think I’ve come to terms with all of this yet, but... if it had to happen, I’m so happy that you all found our boys.”  
  
Nos nodded, but he could sense a fight breaking out in the other room. “I’m sorry, please excuse me for a moment.” He bowed slightly before zooming off, taking his brother with him.  
  
Darwin and Fletcher took the moment to talk to their parents, each side searching for comfort and reassurance from the other in their own ways. The parents did their best to put on brave faces as the kids told them all about what had happened so far. Crashing the celebration, going into the forest, the attack, Stevie and the scale. The longer they talked about AL, the the tighter Fletcher held the shell.  
  
“You’ll be okay if you stay inside and keep that charm close, okay?” Nos soothed, “You’re going to be just fine, my dear. Soon you’ll be home and it’ll be like none of this ever happened. None of us will rest until both of you are safe, and we're going to do everything in our power to make sure this never happens again.”  
  
“I would do anything to come through and hug you,” Fred shook his head, “I'm so, so sorry that you’re going through this."  
  
Rosie gave a dry laugh. “I’m just happy you two are together. You’re doing a good job of taking care of one another.”  
  
Fletcher and Darwin shared a smile and nodded.  
  
A distant crash sounded, followed by ALD calling, “I’ll get the broom!”  
  
Mor poked her head into the communication room. “Fletcher, Darwin, we’re having a sleepover in the living room, would you like to come?”   
  
Both looked to her, then back to their parents. Darwin frowned. “Can we call you again in the morning?”  
  
All four people on the other end of the screen clamored in agreement. “Please do!” “Don’t be silly, of course!” “Not if we figure out how to call you first!”  
  
Mor took a bow. “Thank you misses and sirs! I won't let anyone hurt them.”  
  
They all laughed and thanked her, but Fletcher's gaze fell to the floor. “I don’t want to go.”  
  
Two’s eyeforms fell. He was holding back tears. “It’s alright, sweetheart. We’ll be right here waiting for you when you wake up, but it’s important now that you both get some rest.”  
  
“You can call us as soon as you want, alright? Even if you wake up in the middle of the night,” Rosie nodded.  
  
“We know,” Darwin couldn’t keep the tremor out of his voice. Fletcher rubbed at his visor.  
  
“We love you so much,” Fred murmured, swallowing the lump in his throat.  
  
“Love you, too,” Darwin whispered.  
  
“C-can’t we just... just stay on the call all night?” Fletcher sniffled.  
  
Nos scratched his cheek, trying to hide the fact that he had oil building over his lense and forcing a smile. “As much as we’d love to, darling, your mother is right. You’ve had a crazy day, and you’ll feel much better after you’ve spent some time offline.”  
  
Fletcher reached up and pressed his hand against the screen, his eyeforms flickering with static. Darwin put one hand on Fletcher’s shoulder and the other next to his on the screen. Rosie choked on a laugh and led all the parents in doing the same thing.  
  
“We’ll see you in the morning, sweethearts,” Two smiled, her voice breaking.  
  
Fletcher swallowed. A tear rolled down his cheek. “Okay. I love you.”  
  
“Love you, too,” Nos smiled waveringly.  
  
“More than anything in the world,” Two laughed. She tilted her head, and for a moment, Fletcher so perfectly imagined the feeling of her hand on his cheek that he tried to lean into it. He only fell against Darwin, sucking a shuddering breath into his ventilation system.  
  
Mor tried to keep herself together as much as she could but felt tears coming down.  
  
“Um...” Fletcher blinked, embarrassed. “I don’t know how to hang up...”  
  
Mor was hesitant but saw the connection ending on its own. She lunged toward them and wrapped them in another hug. Neither resisted as they watched their parents fade away. Darwin knelt and Fletcher followed him down. Mor expanded her wings to cover them both.  
  
XR wanted to cry as did Nos but their attention was grabbed by a crash outside.  
  
Fletcher sniffled, nudging Mor. “Is it alright if we have a sec before we come down to the sleepover?”  
  
Mor nodded and left them without another word.  
  
Darwin and Fletcher, on their own, finally let go and cried into one another to get it out of their systems.


	5. Chapter 5

Nos-4-a2 would have given almost anything to get XL away from his house... or maybe get rid of him in general.  
  
“Let me in!” his brother-in-law tried to elbow his way through the front door but nothing. He stares down Nos as he tried to look menacing. “Why can't I go in!?”  
  
Nos rubbed his temples and stayed firmly in his path. “XL, please understand, now is not a good time for ‒ ”  
  
“Hey I destroyed the portal like you asked, so a ‘thank you’ is in order!” XL pointed emphatically but pulled away when Nos’s face darkened. “If it wasn’t for me, you’d be hopeless!”  
  
“As if you are of any help here,” ALD snapped as he came to Nos’s side with XR.  
  
XL stepped up to the black and white Energy Vampire, but ALD continued before he could say a thing, “Oh, but thank you for helping Nebula steal the blueprints so he could cause all this damage! You almost caused the destruction of our universe!”  
  
XL glared. “Clone wannabe!”  
  
“Pretty good coming from a screwball like you! I’m surprised you could even find your way here without blowing yourself up.”  
  
Nos hovered to XR’s side, too tired to intervene.   
  
“At least I can take a hit!”  
  
“One too many in the head!”  
  
“Like you’re any better, Mr. Glass! You fall to pieces every time a stiff breeze comes through!”  
  
ALD stiffened as if he’d been slapped across the face.  
  
XR crossed his arms, “Enough, XL! Did you get all of the blueprints?”  
  
“Yes,” XL puffed his chest out.  
  
“Even the prints for NJX-9R? That one is extremely,  _extremely,_  important. After all, I worked really hard on that one, I’d  _hate_  to lose all that hard work.”  
  
XL froze, breaking out in a nervous smile. “Oh gosh, you know what? I think I left the oven on, I gotta go, see ya!”  
  
Nos watched, relieved, as XL took off. He leaned down toward XR to mumble, “I don’t recall any NJX-9R. Have I ever expressed how much I love your quick thinking?”  
  
“Hundreds of times,” XR laughed for a moment before he noticed ALD. His expression turned somber. “I’m going to get the blankets ready for the kids, alright?”  
  
Nos nodded in understanding, looking toward his brother. Stress radiated from ALD where he leaned against the wall, his arms crossed tight over his chest.  _Damn that XL..._  
  
As soon as XR was out of hearing range, Nos went to ALD’s side. “We both know XL is an idiot. He doesn’t have any idea what he’s talking about. If... if going to Planet Z is too much for you, we can always send DRAC.”  
  
“It is not about going there, and I do not care what XL thinks.” ALD looked up, sensing an outpouring of everything the boys had been holding back. “I do not want to fail them again.”  
  
“You are not at fault for what happened today,” Nos said firmly.   
  
ALD slid down to the ground. “How do you do it, brother? How can you keep doing what you do to support them? How can you still face that monster without falling back?”  
  
“I do what you do, keep fighting until I cannot.” Nos shifted his lower half into legs and sat next to ALD. “You are capable of so much, ALD. If not for you, I would never have seen my son again... will you tell me what is really bothering you?”  
  
ALD tilted his head back to look at the night sky as the trees swayed in the wind. “I feel like... by now, I should be capable of standing against AL_2_CAR-D! After all these years, I still cannot fight him off. I failed Fletcher ‒ if anything, I have put him in  _more_  danger!”  
  
“You did not fail him ‒ ”  
  
“What if Stevie had not been there?!” ALD stood up, his screen turning bright red and seeping tears. “AL could have hurt them, it could have been what happened to Nox all over again! I was not even close to attacking him before he took me down!” ALD shook, “I am unworthy of this family. I am not ‒ ”  
  
“You are worth more than you can possibly know!” Nos snapped, standing to face his brother. “You protected them even as you were being torn apart! Anyone else would have run away from that monster, but you stayed and fought. You did not fail anyone,” Nos pulled his brother into a hug. “They know you are strong, ALD, especially in the face of AL. You have saved my children multiple times, and even if you had not, what you did today has more than proven your worth. You are  _not_  weak.”  
  
ALD fell silent, relenting to his brother’s hug. When he pulled away, he stood straighter. “Enough of this emotional mush, I’m not XL.” ALD shook his head, brushed himself off, and put a hand on his hip. “Thanks, I... I needed that.”  
  
Nos smiled, watching his brother step back inside and through to the living room He’d find a way to make XL apologize later. Nos floated after him, but as soon as he entered the living room, he had to scramble to catch a bundle of sleeping bags and blankets.  
  
XR pulled out a few more to put out for the kids and was about to greet Nos when a knock at the front door cut him off. He huffed, “Can you get that, Nos?”  
  
Nos dropped what he was holding and went right back to the entryway, opening the door to reveal DRAC_2_LA.  
  
Before Nos could say a word in greeting, DRAC’s line of sight turned down the hall to the comm. room, intrigued by the feeling of an unfamiliar young Energy Vampire with striking similarities to Nos-4-a2’s signature. DRAC smirked flirtatiously. “I never pegged you as a ‒ ”  
  
“Finish that thought and I’ll personally dissolve you, one component at a time,” Nos glared.   
  
DRAC rolled his eyes. “Charmed as always by the ever doting father. I will behave.”  
  
Nos allowed him in and lead him to the living room. They entered to see Nox and Mor coming in with armfuls of teddy bears.   
  
“We don’t know if they like to sleep with stuffed animals so we brought them all!” Mor grinned.  
  
“Will Fletcher and Darwin be joining us, angel bats?” their father asked.  
  
Mor nodded, rushing to hug him, “They just need a moment. Thank you Papa for letting us camp in here.”  
  
Nos smiled and hugged her back. “Of course, but you are still forbidden from going out at night.”  
  
“I know Papa, I just want to help like you do,” Mor looked up with owlish optics, shining like a set of topaz.   
  
Nos chuckled and cupped her face. “I understand my angel bat, but you are too young for that kind of responsibility. When you are old enough, I will let you join me.”   
  
Mor pouted but knew it wouldn’t help to force the issue. “So Papa, can we do this more often when Fletcher and Darwin come back to visit?”  
  
Nos hesitated, sharing a look with XR. “...It all depends on their parents, Mor. They are under… strict rules, rules even I cannot change.”  
  
Mor nodded. “Maybe… we could go to their place…?”  
  
“We’ll see Mor, it all depends on them,” XR ruffled her hair.  
  
ALD stepped closer to DRAC, smoothing a blanket over the back of the nearest sofa. “You’ve missed out on quite a lot.”  
  
DRAC rolls his servos and laid back on a wall effortless to stay hidden. “Care to explain this then? I get a call from XR to come here because of some emergency, but all I see is a slumber party,” DRAC gestured around the room.  
  
ALD stretched his neck. “Look, two kids have been sucked into our world and your brother is after them. We’re trying to send them home before he traumatizes them any more than he already has.”  
  
DRAC fell silent, reaching out with his sensors to do a sweeping scan. After a beat, he frowned. “AL is trying to prove his theory.”  
  
“Excuse me?” ALD asked.  
  
The words seemed to weigh on DRAC as he elaborated, “About 700 years ago, before we turned, AL was very intrigued by the unknown. He had a particular fascination with dimension hopping and dreamed to see the worlds, particularly to live there. He always theorized that one could cross between universes, but his main hypothesis involved merging two universes into one. He must be trying to prove it... or worse.”  
  
“I’m curious, what’s worse than that?” ALD lowered his voice.  
  
“I don’t know. Knowing him, he will do it silently. How are these children?” he changed the subject. It was uncomfortable, talking about his brother.  
  
“They aren’t in great shape, but who would be? It took awhile for the initial shock to wear off, and as soon as things were looking up, AL appeared,” ALD shook his head.  
  
“We need to get them home before he can do any more damage,” DRAC murmured, his gaze once again fixed in the direction of the comm. room.  
  
  
  
  
Neither could tell how much time passed before crying turned them numb. Suddenly, they were both just a heap on the floor, silently holding each other together. Fletcher hated crying for no other reason than the lubricant oil making such a mess. It ruined his clothes, and this time, Darwin hadn’t fared any better.  
  
“...Sorry your shirt’s all gross,” Fletcher’s voice came out hoarse.  
  
“I don’t really care,” Darwin responded in a similar undertone.  
  
They couldn’t think of anything to say. The only words they’d managed up until then were garbled “I want to go homes.” Nothing else compared. What could they do? Eventually, they had to face the only course of action available to them, as impossible as it seemed. They stood up. Fletcher hovered upright first and helped Darwin onto his feet. It took them another few minutes to decide on their next move, but before long, they found the motivation to step away from the screen and towards the sound of talking.  
  
The duo came into the living room just as Nos placed his hand against the wall, opening the ceiling to the stars.  
  
Fletcher flinched, shrinking back and clutching Darwin’s arm, frantically searching the sky. “What are you doing?!”  
  
Nos masked his concern to speak in a calming voice. “Do not worry, it is not an open roof. There is a glass dome over us. AL is gone, far away from here.”  
  
Darwin put his arm around Fletcher’s shoulders and squeezed as tight as he could, but the hybrid could still feel him shaking. “Hey, r-remember, you’re supposed to look at how everyone else feels, right? Are they scared?”  
  
Fletcher took a deep breath into his ventilation system and did what he could to clear his mind, focusing on his sensors. He felt no external panic aside from the exhausted, repressed buzzing from Darwin’s processors. He took it all in for a while, trying to assimilate everyone else’s calm before letting out a long breath of exhaust. “I’m okay.”  
  
“H... how do they feel?” Darwin’s voice wavered. Fletcher looked at him then. He wanted to return some of his comfort, but Darwin was holding him so tight that his arms were pinned. Fletcher tilted his head so the top of it bumped against Darwin’s cheek.  
  
“Nobody’s worried... about that, anyway.”  
  
Darwin laughed a little and scratched the back of his neck, loosening his hold on Fletcher.  
  
DRAC eyed the little Energy Vampire, but before he could make a move, ALD hit him on the back of the head. He spoke in an undertone so the boys wouldn’t hear. “Not tonight, alright? They’ve had enough.”  
  
DRAC growled, but he yielded. “Not sure how necessary that was to hit me.”  
  
“Please,” ALD shook his head, “I can’t believe I was based on you.”  
  
Nos hovered away from the wall and put his hand carefully on Darwin’s back. “There is a reason I opened the roof, you know. We are going to have a meteor shower tonight. That sounds like fun, does it not? It will be a sight to see, as well as Ana’s first show.”  
  
“She was trying to get out of her crib,” XR chuckled.  
  
Fletcher found the nearest open spot on the sofa and flopped down, keeping his eyeforms down. He tried to pretend the roof was still there. Darwin joined him, eyeing the unfamiliar robot standing by ALD. Part of him wanted to say something or introduce himself, but even his strongest instincts were thwarted by his tiredness.  
  
Fletcher’s focus had drifted to Ana. She was staring at him, and for some reason, he couldn’t break the visual contact. “...How old is she?” he asked softly.  
  
XR smiled, making his way to them. “She’ll be two in two months.”  
  
Ana kept up her bewildered expression. There wasn’t a lot to her electrical emissions, but Fletcher couldn’t help feeling like she was evaluating him. “She’s sweet.”  
  
XR nodded, “Yeah, she’s a real sweetheart. Ana’s probably the most level headed one out of all of us, she doesn’t react much, even when there’s a commotion ‒ ”  
  
Ana interrupted him with a whimper, reaching for Fletcher.  
  
After a moment of surprise, XR smiled. “Wanna hold her?”  
  
“U-um,” Fletcher looked down again, “I don’t...”  
  
“She’s basically your half-sister, what are you nervous about?” Darwin found enough emotion to smile.  
  
Fletcher frowned at him, but he nodded all the same. “Okay.” He held his arms out, not quite sure what to do with them. “I’ve, uh, never held a baby before.”  
  
“It never gets old, I can tell you that much. Okay, so angle one of your arms for her back, like a c... well, 45° down. Use your other hand to cup her head and keep her close as support. It’s okay if she starts moving, she’ll try to adjust to you.”   
  
Fletcher did as he was told, back held stiff.  
  
“It’s okay to be nervous.” XR helped by moving his hand over Ana’s head. “Nos was like you when he first held Nox and Mor. They were so tiny, he was terrified of dropping them.”  
  
Fletcher smiled waveringly, his eyeforms seeming to glow a brighter shade of purple. “Um, hi, Ana.”  
  
The young hybrid only responded by lying her head against his shoulder and falling asleep.  
  
Fletcher flushed with static. “Wait, what are you doing? You’re going to miss the meteor shower!”  
  
XR patted his back, “It’s okay, she’ll probably wake up again in a few minutes.” It was refreshing to see Ana so comfortable. “You know she really trusts you, she never acts like this, not even with Mor. Then again... Mor is really hyper.”  
  
Ana yawned and nuzzled her head against Fletcher, who nodded slowly.  
  
“...She doesn’t talk much, huh?” Darwin murmured.  
  
“We try coaxing her to talk, but we think it might be too hard for her right now. Maybe in a few months?” XR checked over some of the supplies. “Can you hold her for a bit? I gotta prep the campfire.”  
  
“I think I can do that,” Fletcher murmured.  
  
XR smiled and rushed to sort glowing orbs as the hornets placed a set of rocks.   
  
“Fletcher, do you think that’s just another thing that’s different from home?” Darwin asked softly, “How she can’t talk yet?”  
  
“Maybe, but... it would be rude to ask. Wouldn’t it?”  
  
“Yeah...” Darwin settled farther into the cushions, blinking heavily at the stars. “Do you remember being two?"  
  
“Mom was just teaching me how to write,” Fletcher recalled.  
  
“I was a little slower than that... but I still can’t imagine what it’s like to be online, but not understand language. I was speaking fluently within a few months.”  
  
The pair fell into their own bubble for a moment, awed by this strange little life form.  
  
DRAC watched them carefully, still trying to work out how XR came to accept and trust a child that wasn’t his own.  
  
“Are you okay Mr. DRAC?"  
  
DRAC looked down to see Nox.  
  
“I am just surprised at how everyone has adjusted to… them.”  
  
Nox frowned. “They are really great Mr. DRAC, they won’t hurt Ana.”  
  
DRAC nodded. “I can see some similarities between you two but to sense a different signature that is mixed with your father's is a bit alarming.” Nox tilted his head and sat on the couch. That would need a bit of explaining... “You have seen when animals are keen to familiarity within their kind, yes?”   
  
Nox nodded thoughtfully. “We’re the same then, right?”  
  
“Not quite. You have different signatures, and you were brought into the world by different carriers. To sense another Energy Vampire from such a foreign carrier is… alarming, to say the least. It makes me cautious. I know he is as kind hearted as you, but I can’t shake my instincts. I cannot help sensing a threat.”  
  
Nox frowned. “But you shouldn't be feeling like that around Fletcher when you haven’t met him. He is literally my big brother, all I want is for him to be happy and safe.”  
  
“Hey, Nox!” Mor called from the other side of the room.  
  
Nox turned toward her, hesitating. DRAC nodded and Nox smiled, going to meet her. The old Energy Vampire shook his head, taking a seat by the window once again. “I worry they will hurt you,” he said in an undertone as he watched the twins help their uncle place pillows on different seats.  
  
Darwin grabbed a pillow as Mor put it on the seat next to him, stuffing it under his head. “Ana falls asleep like it’s nothin’, but I bet she still doesn't sleep as much as you do.”  
  
ALD chuckled, “She has a real talent for falling to sleep. She spends half the day offline sometimes.”  
  
“She didn’t even wake up when we were all on a ship leaving the atmosphere!” Mor giggled.  
  
“They  _must_  be related,” Darwin yawned.  
  
ALD laughed softly before taking a knee by Fletcher so he could pet Ana’s hair. “Well, she was born prematurely, so her core is fragile. It’s been getting stronger with time, growing whole ‒ the sleep helps.”  
  
“Everything here is so different... robots can’t come prematurely back home. A lot of robots aren’t ‘born’ at all.”  
  
“Like me,” Darwin hummed, “My parents had me built in a lab."  
  
“I was built inside my mom,” Fletcher mumbled, “then they had to take me out and finish me at a lab. Ana’s a lot like a human baby, huh?”  
  
ALD nodded. “The cores are almost organic in some ways. Ana is no different than the twins, they incubated inside XR and took on a form after being born. It’s pretty complicated.”  
  
“That’s not  _so_  different, I think. I was inside my mom... but I don’t know about that ‘taking form after being born’ stuff. I was pretty much complete when the program stopped running and let my mom know I was ready."  
  
“Seeing it happen in person is something else, like watching the process of construction sped up really fast. Ana here was forced early out due to some stress at work that Nebula put XR through.”  
  
Fletcher held her a little closer. “I’m glad she’s okay.”  
  
ALD patted his head. “Me too, kid.”  
  
Mor peaked over the divan, watching the whole exchange with a smile. “Aww, Ana likes you a lot.”  
  
Fletcher couldn’t smother his smile at this point, absolutely prickling with static. Ana blinked awake at the fizzing sensation, reaching up to pat his face and making him laugh. She giggled and nuzzled his head.  
  
ALD stood then, throwing a pointed look to DRAC. “Hey, why don’t you say hello instead of sulking over there. You’re being creepy.”  
  
DRAC scowled but came forward to them. Fletcher and Darwin’s attention was stolen away from the baby for a moment, taken by this 6 foot tall robot with black and blue optics. DRAC knelt beside them. “It is nice to meet you, children. I am DRAC_2_LA. I am an Energy Vampire.”  
  
“Hi, I’m Fletcher.”  
  
“I’m Darwin. We’re, um... not from here.”  
  
DRAC nodded, “I can tell. You smell and feel different than anyone I’ve ever met. Not to mention, I have already been informed of your situation.”  
  
Fletcher’s face scrunched up. “Smell?”  
  
“I was made as a close replica of a real vampire. I function as I was intended to when I turned 670 years ago.”  
  
“You mean you weren’t made as an Energy Vampire?”  
  
DRAC shook his head. “I was like ALD, made as a soldier, only to be turned if I proved myself worthy. It was not a pretty process.”  
  
“Then... who gave you that power?” Darwin asked “Were there Energy Vampires before you?”  
  
DRAC sat back on his heels, trying to find the right words to answer while avoiding reliving the memory. “My creator found a curse to turn me. My brother was given antimatter as the source to his power. I am the first Energy Vampire.”  
  
“A curse?” Fletcher quirked his eyeform, “Like... magic? It’s not technological?”  
  
DRAC mulled it over. “It was both, to be honest. It was a very painful process.”  
  
“A world with magic...” Darwin muttered, still staring out of the glass ceiling. He wanted to be more surprised or filled with wonder, but he’d believe anything at this point.  
  
Fletcher sat back a little, looking at the top of Ana’s head. “Mom said turning was painful, too. At home, my Dad is the first Energy Vampire, and he wasn’t supposed to be able to turn anybody for good. He says the Energy Vampire ‘venom’ virus that he can download into other robots isn’t stable enough, but... I can do it, too, and I’ve read through the virus. It looks like it’s supposed to hurt. It looks like it’s supposed to kill whoever it’s downloaded into. Dad and the doctors had to work very hard to help Mom get better, and she still can’t really do all the things Dad and I can. I think it even hurts her still sometimes."  
  
DRAC held onto his arm briefly, exposing brass marks that glowed beneath his armor plating. “...I sympathize with her struggle.”  
  
Darwin tried not to stare, but Fletcher couldn’t help himself. “What is that?”  
  
DRAC hesitated before taking off the armor piece, showing an ancient inscription. “This is the curse and the virus. It is where he injected it inside of me.”  
  
ALD tensed a bit and looked away, holding his own arm. Perhaps they weren’t that different after all.  
  
DRAC frowned. “My creator wanted to create the ultimate weapon, and he made two. I am one of them. I am a retired conqueror now, and the other went mad.”  
  
Fletcher and Darwin went quiet. Conqueror? Thank goodness he seemed to be on their side...  
  
DRAC continued, “I was able to make an elixir of sorts to help cure the pain.”  
  
“It still hurts after centuries?” Fletcher asked.  
  
“It did during  the first century, but thanks to the elixir, I’ve been permanently healed. The mental and emotional scarring... well, that’s a different story.”  
  
“That still sounds like a long time to be in pain,” Darwin murmured.  
  
DRAC rubbed the back of his head. “Now it’s just longing for a mate mostly.”  
  
All the kids tilted their heads in unison.  
  
“What does that have to do with anything?” Fletcher asked.  
  
DRAC went grey, wishing he hadn’t said that. “Excuse me, I am needed elsewhere.”  
  
They watched him go in silence. As soon as he was gone, Darwin looked around for confirmation. “Did he just turn gray?”  
  
“I think so...?” Fletcher mumbled.  
  
XR chuckled. “Wow, seeing DRAC embarrassed, that’s a new one.”  
  
Nos rolled his servos. “Pay no attention to him. DRAC has always been that way.”  
  
“And what way is that?” Darwin cocked an eyeform.  
  
Nos stretched. “From what I’ve learned, he’s constantly on the lookout for a mate and takes lovers from time to time to fill that void.”  
  
Fletcher scowled, sticking his tongue out.  
  
XR shrugged. “He eventually gave up on lovers when he tried to win Nos over. Oh man, Nos didn’t like him when they first met.”  
  
The Earthlings shifted awkwardly.  
  
“Uh, can someone take Ana?”  
  
Nox tried to grab her, but she wouldn’t budge. He tried again. Nothing. He tried with help from Mor but she still didn’t let up, at which point the twins fell backwards into a pile of pillows. “Guess she’s glued to you.” Nox said dizzily.  
  
Fletcher compromised by carefully reclining onto his back and clamping his hands over his auditory receptors. “Why does everything have to revolve around  _that?_ ”  
  
“Maybe when you’re older, you’ll find that special someone who loves you for you,” XR smiled.  
  
Nox stuck his tongue out. “Maybe never.”  
  
Mor sighed and hugged her lizard doll. “No one will catch my eye.”  
  
“But that’s the thing... plenty of people love me a whole lot right now. I don’t know why people want  _that_  so bad. Darwin, you love me, don’t you?”  
  
“Yeah,” the android hummed.  
  
“That’s more than enough for me.”  
  
Mor nodded, lying on her back. “I’d rather be single!”  
  
XR chuckled. “Well, that’s better than how I started.”  
  
“But you’re not single,” Fletcher said to Mor, “You’re  _surrounded_  by people who care about you.”  
  
Mor giggled. “I know that. I meant with a life mate. I have a whole lifetime to find someone but I’m happy with my family.”  
  
Fletcher stuck his tongue out again. “‘ _Mate._ ’ Blech. It’s like a word for animals... we were created by an evolved species, I don’t know why everyone says we need to pick just one person.”  
  
XR laughed. “I did and I’m perfectly happy,” he grinned at Nos. “He was my friend and then he became my mate and husband. He’s the greatest.”  
  
Fletcher gingerly scooted Ana off his chest before rolling onto his face, burying it under the cushions. Ana wasted no time crawling onto his back and falling to sleep.  
  
Nox giggled before a glimmer caught his attention. He looked up, beaming, “Hey, it’s starting!”  
  
Darwin let out a soft noise of wonder while Fletcher kept his head down, half in protest and half because he didn’t know how to get Ana off.  
  
“Here, I’ve got her,” Nox grabbed Ana who immediately began to whimper. He pointed up to catch her attention. “Look, Ana.”  
  
It only took a moment before she began to squeal and clap away at the sight of the meteors.  
  
Darwin’s eyeforms lulled as he watched. He reached down to prod Fletcher’s shoulder without looking away, and the hybrid conceded to look up, momentarily stunned by the view. He flipped over to his back, landing his head in Darwin’s lap.  
  
Ana looked down and crawled out of Nox’s hold to sit on Fletcher’s chest.  
  
“Hey, what’s the big idea? Do I smell good or something? Is that something you can sense or what?”  
  
Ana began to babble, but the syllables came out with purpose. Fletcher’s eyeforms widened as he realized she was trying to speak.  
  
“Bleh ‒ ” she sounded out.  
  
All heads turned towards her.  
  
“Bleu... blue,” Ana squealed, “Blue blue blue! Bwether!”  
  
Fletcher’s voice came out strained. “I’m... am I blue?”  
  
“Blue bwether!”  
  
“Wait, th-that’s me, isn’t it? I’m blue brother! Did anyone else hear that?”  
  
XR beamed, giddy. “Her first words!”  
  
Nos reached out to her and she put her hands up toward him. “Ana, I am so proud of you!” he cooed, “Your very first words!”  
  
Ana kept tripping over her new vocabulary in excitement.  
  
Mor and Nox tackled Fletcher, creating a dogpile on top of Darwin. “See, she loves you!” they shouted together.  
  
Fletcher rubbed at his visor, laughing, “I’m sorry, this is a lot.”  
  
Darwin put his hand on top of Fletcher’s head, remembering all the times he’d teased him about idolizing his older brother. “Having siblings isn’t so bad now, is it?”  
  
DRAC smiled at the scene.  
  
ALD stood next to him. “Well I’ll be darned, Fletcher got her out of her shell. Glad it wasn’t explosive.”  
  
DRAC nodded, his countenance fading to a frown. “They will be sad when those boys have to leave.”  
  
ALD rubbed the back of his head, all the cheer leaving him. “I know, but maybe if their parents are okay with it, they can come here freely.”  
  
“That’s a big if,” the retired conqueror mumbled.  
  
They watched the scene play out, enjoying the calm and joy as the storm slowly cast a dark shadow, looming in the form of the bogeyman.  
  
 _Fear has an appropriate response._


	6. Chapter 6

Fletcher was careful to put Stevie’s shell in his chest before he fell asleep, curling close to Darwin in hopes that it would protect both of them. He fell still, putting such a comfortable pressure on Darwin that he didn’t last much longer himself.  
  
Nos and XR sat in the large couch to one the side of the room, reading a story to Ana. It was no time at all before she was fast asleep in her fathers’ arms. ALD had drifted to sleep hanging from the top of the dome, DRAC slipped away on the long couch, and Nos and XR began to make their way to their room.  
  
“Goodnight children,” Nos murmured into the quiet.  
  
“Goodnight Papa,” Nox mumbled, fighting for his last scraps of consciousness. Mor had given up the ghost just a few minutes before.  
  
Nos smiled at the scene and floated upstairs with his mate. It had been a long while since their children had a sleepover, and seeing them having so much fun warmed him. XR carried Ana to her crib and carefully tucked her in.  
  
“It’s sweet to see all of them so happy,” the Ranger smiled.  
  
Nos nodded. “And for Ana to say her first words! Thank the stars it was not ex ‒ er, that word,” he did not want their daughter hearing that word ever.  
  
XR chuckled. “Yeah. How long did it take us to get them to stop saying that?”  
  
“Four weeks, but even then...” Nos’s smile faltered thinking about that particular talk.  
  
“So that argument…?” XR frowned, knowing the first question.  
  
“Did he hear anything?” Nos asked, coming to XR’s side to look at Ana sleeping in her crib.  
  
“Well, he did kept away from the door but I got a feeling he sensed the controlled rage and fear you gave off.” XR adjusted Ana’s blanket.  
  
“I did not intend to get so frustrated with him. He is a stubborn mule. He cannot just believe his troubles will disappear so easily, sooner or later he will have to face that truth.”  
  
XR eyed him a bit as he sat in their coffin charger. “Are you… are you jealous?”  
  
Nos glared. “As if I would be of that ‒  _other_  me.” He lowered his tone so as not to disturb Ana. He crosses his arms and sat next to XR. “I just do not understand him. He’s pretending his past doesn’t exist.”   
  
“Kinda like you,” XR muttered, giving him a passive look.  
  
Nos turned to him, raising a brow.  
  
“Think about it. You went into hiding on Capital Planet, like he hid on Earth,” XR held one digit up, “Another thing, you kept yourself a secret for a year, while Earth Nos has kept hidden for at least ten years so far.” XR then looked at him with a stern glare. “Not to mention, you wanted to forget everything, just like he did, not that I blame you. All in all, I don't see the big difference.”  
  
“But I did not want to forget about you!” Nos pointed out. “You made me think about myself,  _you_  made me want to be more than what I was.”  
  
“I know, but listen, Nos,” XR cupped his cheek. “You’ve been in his place before, give him some credit. You’ve both had it hard.”  
  
Nos hated to admit it, but he made a good point. “...I will not be apologizing.”  
  
XR chuckled and wraps his arms around him, holding him close. “I know, I’m not gonna force you. You know... there was one other thing I noticed you have in common.”   
  
“What?”   
  
“You two have a thing for small mates,” XR grinned.  
  
Nos rolled his servos as XR chuckled.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Nos-4-a2 sat heavily on the edge of his bed. Two was taking the Harleys to the second floor master to stay the night, giving Nos a moment to himself. His joints were shaking. He tried to stop, he tried everything he could think of, desperately attempting to clear his mind, but all he could see was that other Nos-4-a2. What had he told Fletcher? Fletcher wouldn’t believe him, right?  _Right?_  The truth didn’t matter, Fletcher did. What if he didn’t trust them any more? What if, once they got him back, he didn’t feel safe in his own home? After all they’d been through, after all the work Nos-4-a2 had done to make sure that his family would never come to any harm, how could this happen? This freak accident completely beyond anyone’s control, and Fletcher could have to pay the price...  
  
Nos pressed his hand over his mouth. When had he started crying? Damn his dramatic creator, giving him artificial tear ducts. He could hardly see as warm droplets of lubricant oil leaked from beneath his lense. He spat and cursed, unable to hold back a sob. What was he supposed to do? He grabbed the back of his head with his free hand, curling into himself.  
  
Two hovered somberly through the door, but as soon as she saw him, she seemed to crack. Nos met her gaze and shook his head at a loss for words. Two hovered to his side, putting one hand on his shoulder and wiping his tears with the other. Now that the floodgates were open, he couldn’t stop himself, his frame wracked with sobs. “Our boy is so far away... he’s trapped, he’s so scared and confused and there’s nothing,” his voice broke, “ _nothing_  that we can do.”  
  
Two bowed her head, her hand trembling on his shoulder. She let out a shuddering tone as she tried to keep some semblance of composure for his sake. She had only seen him so broken up once, so many decades ago. “I know,” she whispered. “They’re doing their best to get him home.”  
  
“We don’t know anything about them,” Nos choked out, “If what they said is true, they live at the epicenter of the galactic community. What is he thinking? Capital Planet? Every enemy he’s ever made is going to come after him and his family, and our boy... our Fletcher... he’s never done anything to deserve this, and he’s been thrown straight into the middle of it all!” Nos’s control dissolved the longer he spoke until he was almost screaming.  
  
Two cried against him, her arms around his neck.  
  
“What are we supposed to do?” Nos’s words were nearly unintelligible.  
  
“I don’t know,” she hiccupped, “I don’t know, I don’t know...”  
  
They held each other, restless, fearful, heartbroken, and fell into the longest night of their lives.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Nox awoke to the bedroom he shared with his sister. He couldn’t recall going to his room. He jumped off the bed, but something about the room was off. He walked out through the contorted, misshapen walls of his home, looking around for his sister. The architecture began to blend and mix into something else, cool gray stone with drapes and carpets in rich reds and violets, furniture of wood, glass, and wrought iron, overflowing planters in every vacant corner. This emerging scenery mixed into his own home unevenly, twisting together like different wads of clay.  
  
Nox began to worry. It had been too quiet for too long. “Hello?" He called out, picking up his pace. “Anyone?” This was setting up to be like his old nightmares all over again. “Please, is anyone here?!”  
  
Just as he began to panic, a voice called back, “Nox?” Fletcher stood at the end of a long hall, looking around.  
  
Nox raced toward him, tackling him in a hug. He relaxed and smiled, tearing up a bit. He pulled away as he realized he may have seemed overzealous. “Sorry, I was scared. I ‒ I hate being alone.”  
  
“That’s okay, but what’s going on? Am I Home? Where is everyone?”  
  
“I-I-I think w-we’re in a dream. It’s like we got our minds connected somehow,” Nox answered, unsure of how Fletcher would feel about their setting. Nox didn’t want Fletcher to feel scared, still not sure how much he had heard of their fathers’ argument.   
  
Fletcher, however, seemed flighty and distracted, not quite aware of himself. “We’re dreaming? I’ve only ever really dreamt in memories...”  
  
“Me too... this is weird. This only happens when ‒ ” he stopped, interrupted by a bang and a rumble that vibrated through the halls. Nox shakily clung to Fletcher.  
  
The hovering bot turned placidly toward the noise. “Is someone else here?”  
  
Nox shook his head. “I think it's more like he’s trying to get in.”  
  
Fletcher blanched, shrinking back. “You don’t mean...”  
  
The room changed around them, melting into a black void. Their clothes billowed from their metal as the darkness came into focus. Strange, waving shapes rose from the silt beneath them, and they looked up together to see a rippling surface in the distance. Even through the water, they could see AL_2CAR-D punching at some invisible wall, failing to crack it.  
  
“I-I-I do not understand, he always f-f- fi-finds a way to get into my head,” Nox spluttered. He had to calm down and think. This place was not of his home. He paused in realization, blinking. “This is not our dream,” he blurted out. “That means ‒ !”   
  
A large, skeletal serpent moved through the water above them, glowing through the murk. “We are in Stevie’s dream,” Nox murmured, relaxing through his confusion.  
  
“This is really weird,” Fletcher mumbled.  
  
Nox nodded and sat down, the soft sediment clouding up around him. “I agree, but at least we're safe. Look,” he pointed up as AL was forced to disappear. The sand and dirt beneath them began to shine.  
  
“We’re safe?” Fletcher asked.  
  
Nox nodded and watched a school of fish pass over them. “Thanks to Stevie we are,” he laid back all the way. “I wish Papa found Stevie earlier when he still had his whole family.”   
  
“He’s a baby? He’s  _massive._  Does he know that we’re here with him?”  
  
Nox nodded again. “He sometimes comes into my dreams when he gets really lonely.”  
  
Fletcher looked up, watching the alien creature twist above them. “Uh... hi, Stevie. Thank you for saving us today, and, uh... right now.”  
  
The serpent flowed over itself and swam away.  
  
“Where is he going?!” Fletcher gasped.  
  
Nox shrugged. “I think he’s still trying to find his family. I don’t really know though. On the positive side, we’re safe here.”  
  
Fletcher relaxed. “That’s good. So, you think his family is still out there somewhere?”  
  
Nox frowned, “Maybe, but deep down I think he probably knows they are gone.”   
  
“Maybe there are some left...”  
  
Nox faltered. “That could be possible, but Papa says he’s the only one of his kind.”  
  
“His kind? There are different species of dream-eating space worms?”  
  
Nox watched more fish go by, trying not to cry. “There used to be. They were on a planet that died out.”  
  
"You don’t think anyone else saved some of them like your dad did?”  
  
“Most people think they are dangerous,” Nox scowled, all too familiar with that prejudice.  
  
Fletcher fell quiet for a while. “I wonder if there are any in my universe.”  
  
Nox gave a small smile. “Maybe that’s where he’s going. It’s just that most people, like Star Command, tend to think they’re monsters. Papa was investigating their old planet and found him as an egg. Stevie’s mom was protecting him from these poachers that destroyed the other eggs but my papa stopped them, too. The mom pushed Stevie to him and she... stopped glowing.”  
  
“How did your dad find out about him protecting your dreams?”  
  
Nox had to close his optics. There before them appeared a small screen that showed Nox. He was seven in the recording, standing in a forest that was different from the one close to their home. Nox and Mor hid in a small cave as Nos fought AL. “AL made an attempt to kidnap me two years ago. Papa had to do a mission and we wanted to go with him. It was nice, it was supposed to be a simple mission of analysis on the planet Durga. That was when AL showed up along with some hornets to capture me and Mor.” In the recording, Nos came out alright with a few scratches and a monster being pulled back by some salvaged hornets as XR and his team arrived on the scene. Nox and Mor rushed to their parents. “He failed, but he tried to scare me in my dreams that night like he had many other times before.  
  
“That night, I was dreaming of the time dad taught me how to use my jet pack wings. I was flying into space with everyone.” The Nox on the screen held his fathers’ and his sister's hands. “Then all of the sudden Mor was pulled away and our fathers disappeared. I tried to reach out to her but instead it was him.”  
  
Fletcher saw AL fly in, chasing after Nox. “He kept chasing me but that's when I saw Stevie.”   
  
The giant serpent attacked AL and tossed him into a void. The projected dream turned into the same lake they sat in now. Stevie turned to Nox and flowed through the water to him. “I was scared at first, but he wrapped himself around me, protecting me. I woke up to Mor shaking me. She was scared AL had me in some coma. I told them what happened and Papa was surprised at how I described Stevie. I didn't meet Stevie until he showed me him the day after.”  
  
“That must have been a real shock!”  
  
Nox nodded. “It was an even bigger shock when Stevie settled himself in the lake. There used to be a big fish that poisoned the water, but as soon as Stevie moved in, we found it dead by the shore of the lake. Now it’s clean and animals like to go there.”  
  
“It is really clean... how does he not produce enough waste to flood this place?”  
  
Nox couldn’t help giggling at that. “Papa and this really nice lady learned he’s like an algae that cleans and filters the lake.”  
  
Fletcher’s eyeforms opened wide. “Like a  _plant?_ ”  
  
Nox nodded and continued, “Papa always goes out at night to help study him and check on him. The nice lady who protects animals does, too. I found out she works for Star Command but she is her own boss.”  
  
“Mom would freak. She’d love to know more about Stevie.”  
  
Nox smiled, “Maybe she can. We could ask papa if Stevie wouldn’t mind one of his babies going to another universe.”  
  
“You know... I think I’d rather figure out how to get ourselves home first. It seems like the longer the portal between our worlds is open, the more chance AL could cross over.”  
  
Nox frowned with a shudder. “I remember when he followed me to toontown. It was horrible.”  
  
“Oh, I uh, don’t mean to sound like I want him trapped here with you... I just don’t want him to get any more powerful,” Fletcher’s eyeforms flicked to the side.  
  
“I agree! I don’t want that either! I would rather he be here than harming anyone else. He always brings pain to everyone, but it hurts to know it's because of me,” his lenses welled with tears as he thought of all the toons he’d met and their wailing and crying that haunted his dreams.  
  
“Everything is so hectic here,” Fletcher murmured, not knowing where to look. He never knew what to do when people cried. “Does your dad go on adventures like that all the time? What does he do for Star Command?”  
  
Nox calmed down and sat in the silt again. “Well, Papa doesn’t do anything for Star Command. He supports Dad a lot, and I guess he helps Dad when things get dangerous, which happens a lot.” Nox paused, thinking about his papa. “He works for the Galactic Alliance so he can make a change for the better. Once he brought peace to two planets that were about to go to war.” He smiled at the memory. “I remember Madame President told us it was to show everyone he is a not a threat nor is he evil.”  
  
“Oh, I see. If your papa’s anything like my dad though, I’m sure he doesn’t have anything to prove. My dad doesn’t even really like leaving the house, so your papa must really care about other people seeing he’s a good guy.”  
  
Nox frowned. “It’s not about caring what other people thinks. With his creator still conquering, people will try to hurt me and Mor. They’ve been everywhere except here in Valder Town. He keeps working so people won’t hurt us or threaten us. But, most people think we're future threats especially with what I sort of did to Star Command. Honestly he prefers to work at his shop in Valder Town. He makes beautiful artworks there.”  
  
“I never would have guessed your dad’s an artist! Mine sculpts sometimes, but he never really seems to think about it. He says he’ll teach me how some day.”  
  
Nox smiled, but remembering the argument, he frowned a bit. “Do you think, maybe... we could hang out sometime after you and Darwin go home? I really like this alot.”  
  
“Is that even possible? It seems like that would be risky, considering how opening two portals is what landed us here in the first place. I have to admit, though... I’ve never made friends so easily at home, and all of you are really nice and easy to be around, even if some of you bicker a lot. It’s like we really are family. I only have one cousin at home, and we have a lot of fun, but it’s still just the two of us. It’s actually really nice to meet more kids my age who don’t think I’m a freak. I mean, you guys are Energy Vampires! I never thought I’d meet another one unless I turned them myself.”  
  
Nox nodded vigorously, his optics shining as much as his smile. “It has been more than great! Most of my cousins aren’t really related to me, and I can’t see them much anyway with the distance. It’s hard to make friends here, too, when so many of them are scared of us. I really like you and Darwin; it’s really nice finding someone who doesn’t see you as a threat or a monster.”  
  
Fletcher grinned back, “Darwin is great like that. I thought he was trying to make fun of me at first, but he was really determined to get through to me. Once we actually talked to each other, we both realized we got along really well. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”  
  
Nox smiled. Darwin reminded him of his dear cousin. “I wonder if ‒ !” Nox gasped, seeing himself disappear.  
  
“Wait, what’s happening?”  
  
Nox woke up in his sleeping bag, surprised to see it was morning. “Fletcher?!”  
  
The purple hybrid, being the deep sleeper he was, didn’t stir. Darwin was wrapped around him like a sloth on a branch.  
  
Nox sighed in relief and fell back, seeing Mor drooling on the pillow next to him. He was glad it had not been a nightmare. He could not tell if it had been real or not, but if it was ‒  
  
He stopped in mid thought, sensing his Papa approaching. He sat up to see him floating into the room. Nos blinked in surprise, his expression filling with concern. “Nox, why are you up so early? Did you have another nightmare?"  
  
Nox gave a small smile, “No, I just woke up.” Nox looked around as he noticed not everyone was there. “Where are uncle ALD and Mr. DRAC?”  
  
Nos hesitated before he spoke. He sensed his son’s concern, choosing his words carefully. “ALD went to Planet Z, and DRAC is up on top of the house meditating.”   
  
Nox frowned, remembering his dream and the day before. “Can we... may we talk, Papa?”  
  
Nos nodded and Nox carefully stepped around everyone to his father’s side. Together, they made their way to his father's study.


	7. Chapter 7

Nos sat in a chair across from Nox in his study, his fingers laced in front of him, his elbows on his desk.  “It is not just about whether or not it is possible, Nox, this all depends on their parents. Ultimately, this is their choice.”  
  
The golden hybrid nodded slowly, looking at the floor.  
  
“I know this is a sore subject since you had to part with Dylan, and if it were up to me, you could see Fletcher and Darwin whenever you wanted. It makes me so happy to see you making friends. Please understand that it is not up to me, but I will talk to their parents. We must respect their feelings on the matter.”  
  
Nox took a moment to think. “If they say it’s okay... do you think we can help their world?”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
XR monitored the frequency of the other portal machines, seeing that Planet Z’s was still active... as was Star Command’s?  
  
It was time to talk to his brother. XR didn’t waste any time getting to the point when XL answered. “Hey, please tell me Nebula didn’t have some kind of a back up portal?”  
  
“About that,” XL laughed sheepishly, “they figured Nos would destroy the first one, so...”  
  
XR shook his head. “XL, you gotta destroy it! If one of them opens another portal, there’s no telling what it could bring through!”   
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
AL growled while he destroyed the fiftieth hornet that day. “Not only did I fail to capture those boys, that  _snake_  kept me from getting close at all,” he snarled, punching a hole through the wall. The worst part by far had been explaining it all to Zurg. As expected, the Evil Emperor was thrilled to hear about the new little vampire and was already planning their capture and conversion into soldiers. It was all getting rather annoying.  
  
AL’s thoughts were on Nos-4-a2, that  _parasite_  that he couldn’t manage to kill. Every time he fought that cheap imitation, someone new was there to protect him. AL had no patience for teamwork, especially not since being trapped in his throne by his once trusted “brother.” He was at a standstill. This wasn’t something he’d be able to do alone. AL needed someone who could match his strength ‒ he froze. His rage ebbed as his face split in a malicious grin. “Who can you count on if not yourself?”   
  
He recalled the data he’d collected from the children and tapped it into the computer. The monster analyzed the numerous galaxies that appeared and smirked enormously. “How fortunate, though destruction will have to wait.” His chest panel exposed his converted core. “I will find my other half. In the meantime...” Using what core he had left, the part of himself that had been expelled to preserve his sanity, he began the scan and locked onto a planet. “Transylvania...”  
  
With the press of a button, he opened a portal into the boys’ universe at the darkest edge of their galaxy, right on the surface of the dead planet Transylvania. AL flew through and coasted over the icy wasteland. He looked across endless fields of ice and snow, the fallen soldiers stopped in time, robots and organics alike. He could only chuckle as he made it to a castle built into the face of a mountain. He glided inside to see the grand pool. There, far beneath the surface and through a thin layer of ice, he could feel someone alive and unturned ‒ there was no mistaking the connection he sensed to this alternate version of himself. “As soon as I change them, they will be hungry. They’ve been trapped for so long,” he dove in with relish, swimming to the depths where dead orbs radiated enough light to see by. AL was faced with numerous tunnels large enough for ships to pass through. He gave out more light and followed one through to a room above the water level. He jumped out at the foot of a massive, blue coffin sitting at the altar of a throne, feeling perfectly pleased.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
XR watched the readings on his monitor like a hawk, wincing in dread as a portal was opened. It couldn’t have been for long, but there was no doubt something had come through. He locked onto the coordinates, printing out the information. He ripped it out as soon as he could to read over it, quailing at the information. Fumbling back to his communicator, he managed to dial Nos. He didn’t wait for a moment after he answered to blurt, “We’ve got a huge problem!”  
  
Nos’s expression hardened and he hung up. It wasn’t even a full minute before he rushed into the lab. “What has happened?”  
  
XR showed him the printout. “It looks like we’re dealing with a rogue planet that was knocked out of its star’s orbit by some unknown force.”  
  
Nos read through the information XR gave him. “There is possibly another bogeyman on our hands.”   
  
“...We have to tell them don’t we?”  
  
Nos nodded as they headed to the communication room and began to reconnect them through the line.   
  
The console only rang once before Two picked up. A quick flash of confusion passed over her countenance before she looked over her shoulder, saw her Nos passed out on the bed, and relaxed. “Thank you for calling again. We’ve been up all night.”  
  
XR frowned. “Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you need to be prepared. We might have a new enemy on our hands.”  
  
“What do you mean?” Two somehow became even more somber.  
  
XR grimaced, “Someone entered your universe, specifically visiting an uncharted planet that resembles one we know called Transylvania.”  
  
“We fear it may be an old Energy Vampire, one that may be similar to AL-2-CAR-D,” Nos elaborated.  
  
“Listen, N ‒ my husband told me what you spoke about last night, and we really don’t think that’s likely. We’re actually pretty certain it’s impossible, and we’d really appreciate it if you were guarded about it around the children.”  
  
Nos gave a curt nod. “You have my word.”  
  
“Thank you. I know it must be absurd to see a mirror image of yourself, nevertheless one that disagrees with you, but please understand we have our reasons.”  
  
“It is alright. If I am being completely honest, he is as stubborn as a mule,” Nos glared toward the edge of the shot where his Earthbound counterpart was barely visible.   
  
Two’s eyeforms narrowed. “You would know, wouldn’t you? Now, what makes you all think that someone entered our universe?”  
  
“Well… after one portal opened, a planet from our universe disappeared.” XR was a bit nervous now but he pressed on.  
  
“I don’t understand. Why does that mean someone came through?”  
  
XR shook his head. “It was the planet that disappeared that concerns us ‒ AL’s home planet. We’re trying to destroy those portals ASAP, but we also need to be prepared for anything. I’ll need your coordinates so we can make sure the kids go exactly to you and not some look alike, okay?”  
  
“Of course, Quinn can send you our galactic coordinates if you open up a written communication line. But what can  _we_  prepare for? is there anything we can do to take the portals down from here?”  
  
“Unfortunately, no, but please stand by. Do you wish to speak with your son?” Nos asked.  
  
“Of course,” something about Two seemed to come awake for the first time, “I’ll wake Darwin’s parents. You can send the boys in whenever they’re ready.”  
  
Nos nodded and left to gather the children.   
  
Two scrutinized XR for a long moment before letting her eyeforms drift up to a spot just over the screen. “Quinn, would you please let Mr. and Mrs. Harley know the boys are calling?”  
  
XR shifted awkwardly. “So...” what was he supposed to say to his alternate husband’s spouse? “You turned?”  
  
Two blinked at the question, unable to shake the memories of the XR that she knew. “Yeah. Have...  _you_  turned?”  
  
XR shook his head. “We, uh, if we want more kids, we can’t risk it. Turning could damage my core and make me sterile.”  
  
“Weird,” Two smiled a little, “We were only able to have children after I turned, and we weren’t planning on it at all.”  
  
“Yeah, finding out I was having twins was a shock! Then having another baby years later... it’s a surprise every time. I didn’t think it would even be possible for us to have one, since we were supposedly programmed to be males.”  
  
“That sure sounds... alien. Not to be terribly mundane, but I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around this alternate dimension business.”  
  
XR chuckled. “Between you and me, you’re taking it better than I did. Nox was pulled into another universe a few years ago and I wasn’t sure I was gonna survive it.”  
  
“Nox?”  
  
“Oh, sorry. My son. We have Nox and our daughter Mor-6a, they’re twins, and then we have our baby girl Ana.”  
  
“I’m sorry, of course, I think we saw them yesterday... all of this has just been a lot. I can’t believe this has happened before. I... I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t called. With the mess that was left behind, we thought they might have been vaporized. I don’t know if Nos is any more at ease, though, he worried himself into a stupor over Fletcher figuring things out.”  
  
XR winced. “About that. I know they butt heads, but my Nos is coming from a place of caring. He just doesn’t want Fletcher fearing his own father. It almost happened with our kids.”  
  
Two’s visor darkened. “Regardless, it’s not his decision to make for our son. Who Nos was couldn’t have less to do with who he is today. Honestly, he still needs to come to better terms with it before we tell Fletcher.”  
  
XR frowned. “Of course. I wish we’d had the chance to tell the twins on our own time, but my pops told them just out of anger when they were only three years old. We explained everything and they understood, but there are still people at Star Command who aren’t so accepting. They’ve said terrible things to our kids, going as far as to drive Nox’s powers to go haywire. The stress of using his powers while not being an Energy Vampire almost killed him."  
  
“He’s not an Energy Vampire? I can’t imagine what it must have been like to go through all of that...”  
  
“That’s why we want to make sure nothing goes wrong,” XR looked up, hearing footsteps coming down the hall.  
  
“We just want them home,” Two deflated a little. “I don’t know what any of us would do if we lost either one of them...”  
  
XR nodded in understanding.  
  
“The Harleys will be with you presently,” Quinn announced. Two blinked, making a soft noise of realization and turning back to wake Nos-4-a2.  
  
She hovered out of the frame, “Nos, the boys are calling.”  
  
He grumbled, his voice hoarse, barely managing to pry his optic open and rolling onto his side. “Hm?”  
  
"Darwin and Fletcher. Come on, let’s say good morning.”  
  
Nos sat bolt upright, the bleariness shocked out of his face. Two helped him up and led him into the shot right as Rosie and Fred stepped into the room, eagerly looking toward the screen.  
  
Fletcher was still yawning, rubbing at his visor and letting Darwin drag him along. Nos followed them into the room.  
  
“Good morning, boys,” Fred said in relief, “it’s so good to see you! Did you sleep alright?”  
  
Fletcher just mumbled a greeting while Darwin launched into conversation, telling them all about the meteor shower and Ana’s first words. Nos and Two watched Fletcher lean against his friend, somehow deeply comforted by his normal, bleary self.  
  
They chatted for a while before Fletcher gathered himself enough to mutter, “You know there’s magic here?”  
  
Everyone else fell silent, staring at the little hybrid. “I had a dream with Nox. We talked a lot. And being an Energy Vampire is magic here, too, but it’s like... a curse or something? Isn’t that crazy? There’s a big snake skeleton that acts like a plant, Mom...”  
  
All four parents on Earth stared at Nos and XR, hoping for some sort of explanation.  
  
“DRAC!” they called in unison.  
  
The Nos on Capital Planet was the first to speak. “There is a serpent called the dream eater that filters and supports the ecosystem here. As Fletcher spoke, it allows him and Nox to interact in their dreams. The talk of magical curses is from our friend DRAC, the oldest Energy Vampire here.”  
  
The parents all continued to stare, flabbergasted.  
  
“...I’m going to get something to eat,” Fletcher’s father mumbled.  
  
DRAC poked his head into the room, blinking in surprise. “Well I’ll be, another Nos! This is as surprising as it comes.”  
  
Earthling Nos only conceded to give a short nod before hovering out of the shot to grab a spare power cell from his bedside table, hovering back in with his fangs buried deep in the casing.  
  
Fletcher watched his father, his fangs lengthening. “Breakfast?”  
  
Two laughed, folding her hands over her motherboard.  
  
“Oh, here,” XR’s husband offered Fletcher an energy rock and a battery. He took the battery without thinking, blinking slowly and stuffing it into his mouth.  
  
“ _Mmmf._ ”  
  
XR chuckled. “You and Mor might just be related after all.”  
  
Darwin laughed, “I don't know about some of the stuff he said, but Mr. DRAC did tell us that Energy Vampires are magic last night."  
  
DRAC nodded, his gaze locking on the lithe white Energy Vampire. “You must be Fletcher’s mother, very unique and beautiful indeed,” he grinned.  
  
Two’s expression fell flat. “...Okay.”  
  
Nos and XR shook their heads. Couldn’t he go a day without flirting?  
  
“Mom, the plant-creature thing is Stevie, the one who gave Darwin a shell to protect us. It lives in water and filters it like some sort of plant. I want to scan it if I remember next time, but it protected me from the demon last night.”  
  
“My word... the stars hold incredible things, Fletcher, and I’m so happy you’ve found something so wonderful. I’ve always wanted to explore and discover such mysterious things,” Two smiled.  
  
“Do you think there’s magic in our world?” Fletcher asked.  
  
Nos couldn’t help melting. “There’s only magic in the world if you can see it, boys, and I think you have exactly the sight you need.”  
  
Mor trudged into the room, a battery clamped in her mouth. She muffled a greeting, her hair sprouting everywhere. Nox peeked into the room after her, looking from Fletcher to his papa.  
  
Nos nodded. “Miss Eve, Stevie has produced his first eggs. We are looking at a very rare opportunity as he is the last of his kind. Would you like to take an egg to your world?”  
  
Two’s eyeforms grow perfectly round. “I... wow, thank you, but I don’t think I could take responsibility for something like that.”  
  
“Your boys told us about your environment, and seeing as the eggs are meant to spread across many other locations to help other planets, Nox wishes to help you all as much as possible. This creature is self caring. It just needs communication.”  
  
Two took a long moment to think. There was a light in her visor, but she looked down again. “Thank you, but I can’t accept. The ecosystems here are too delicate to introduce something so drastic. There’s no telling how it could affect the local area, and frankly, our planet is still so poisoned it may be overwhelming.”  
  
“But Stevie cleaned the poison fish out of the lake,” Mor mumbled around her energy rock.  
  
“The creature feeds on poison to help secure its home,” Nox translated.  
  
The twins’ father nodded. “I have done many studies on the creature and if you would like, I can give you my research to help you. As an added bonus, if AL or the unknown creature try to come near, this creature will protect Fletcher and everyone around it.”  
  
Two shook her head. “You’re all very kind, but our world... it's important that we take care of our own mistakes. Taking a shortcut like that could throw things out of balance. I’m grateful that it’s protecting our children for now, but as soon as they’re home, we have protections of our own in place.”  
  
“I... I wish to hang out with Fletcher, even if it’s just through the dreams,” Nox finally admitted.  
  
Fletcher’s father tilted his head. “I don’t understand. Would this creature allow that?”  
  
“In some old tales from a dead planet that no longer keep sustainable life, these creatures would enter in the dreams of many others. In short yes.” Nos answers.  
  
Nos: "And it creates portals?"  
  
“As far as we know, Stevie can only connect people mentally and emotionally,” Nos added, choosing his words carefully. “I understand your beliefs, but please. If this helps better your world, we want to aid you. You are our family too.”  
  
“Come on,” Rosie finally interjected, “Haven’t you been listening to a thing Two has said? For all we know, putting one of those in our world could set us back! The easiest way is rarely the right way. We just need to focus on getting Darwin and Fletcher home.”  
  
Fletcher cocked his head, trying to understand. “Okay, but if we don’t have a Stevie, does that mean we couldn’t meet in our dreams again?”  
  
Nox felt a pit in his stomach. He had to get out... he turned and began to walk to the door, holding in his tears, breaking into a run.  
  
Mor sensed her brother’s hurt and followed after him. “Nox, wait!”  
  
XR went after them. Fletcher’s thrusters stalled before he took off as well. “Wait, Nox! Would that really be it?”  
  
DRAC knew this had been coming. “I’d better go and see if he is alright.”  
  
Nos nodded, staying in place. “As I said, I respect your choice and I understand the reasons.”  
  
“It’s just not my choice to make for the Earth,” Two shook her head.  
  
“But what did your boy mean about meeting with Fletcher?” Nos asked.  
  
The twins’ father looked down. “They were able to connect in the dreamworld. The creature communicates through dreams. It seems Nox and Fletcher were able to come in contact through Stevie, but due to Stevie existing here, that communication is impossible between universes.”  
  
“But what about what we’re doing now?” Fred pointed out, “Couldn’t we still communicate this way?”  
  
“We can, but Nox feared you would not let Fletcher come here or let him see our children again. They have always had problems making friends, and most of our friends’ children cannot always see them either. The last dear friend he made was forced to never speak to him again.”  
  
“I mean, we couldn’t keep them separated in good conscience if it’s safe,” Two said.  
  
Nos nodded. “As long as it’s safe, why would we ever keep them apart?”  
  
“Besides, even if they can’t meet in person, I can’t imagine having any problem with them speaking like we are now!” Fred pointed out, “Darwin’s never made a friend he didn’t keep in contact with.”  
  
Nos was about to respond when he felt a cold shiver through his wires. His claws enlarged and he took off without a word, leaving Darwin the last one in the room.  
  
“What’s going on?” Rosie rasped.  
  
“I don’t know,” Darwin’s voice came out small, “w-what should I do?”  
  
“Just stay right here, Win, don't hang up,” his father said, “Everything’s going to be alright.”  
  
“Where did everybody go?” Two’s voice trembled.  
  
“I don’t know, this house is so big, but... he looked really scared! What do I do?”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Nox hid in the bell tower across from their home, crying with his knees hugged against his chest. A calmer part of his mind knew he may have been overreacting, but all he could feel was heartbreak.  
  
Fletcher chased him as far as he could, halting before the doorway, still petrified of leaving the protection of the house. He called out to no avail, his voice cutting out completely as a pair of red wings spread out from the far side of the tower.  
  
“Oh, sweet little Nox, I do wonder whether you’re trying to be captured? You want to run away, don’t you?"  
  
Nox shook as he kept inside.  
  
“I suppose an explanation is in order. Originally I was going to sneak in to that unsecured space station and destroy everyone.” AL smirk but soon melted away. “But I could not help but feel pathetic after being kept from terrorizing you. My plan was simple, terrorize you and that little purple bat, make him question and slowly and beautifully destroy those bonds. It was going to be horrific but I could not with that snake lurking and protecting you and him. However that insufferable snake was weak after a change of some sort and decided to go head on and what I find is you out here, unprotected. I may not get my hands on the child to open the universe I wanted originally.” He breaks through the tower, and reaches for Nox. “But I can enjoy watching one parasite suffer and the way your friend is cowering in fear than trying to save you, no one is here to save you."  
  
XR was rushing to save his son, but a deformed wolf leapt into his path. The Ranger drew all his blasters. “Stay behind me, kids!”  
  
Fletcher shook, falling farther back into the house.  
  
“Tell me, little monster, did you enjoy your rest? Because that will be the last,” AL lunged for Nox as he could only grab a hold of his shell.  
  
“Go away!” Nox cried out, huddling into himself. “PAPA!”  
Just as the antimatter demon was ready to demolish the tower, Nos attacked from behind. Nox ran while he could, scrambling beneath DRAC fighting a swath of hornets. Nox froze as the wolf spotted him.  
  
“Get to the lake, Nox! We’ll be ok!” His dad cried out, shooting down a few hornets.   
  
AL hissed with a smirk. “This time I will destroy everything you love!” He attacked Nos head on.  
  
Nos dove down and slashed at AL.  
  
“I will not let you harm anyone!” Nos roared and blasted at the red monster.  
  
Nox wanted to run, but there was another wolf behind him. Nos was about to swoop down and save him but AL kept him away. Nox dissolved back into tears as the wolves drew near, too afraid to lift his arms lest they be torn off. He backed away until he hit something solid, looking up to see a tall blue robot that almost resembled AL, something like a dark knight.  
  
Fletcher had scrambled all the way back to the communication room, too shaken to speak but clinging to Darwin once again.  
  
The blue titan pulled out its sword, walking past Nox and rushing to attack the wolves. ALD grabbed Nox and rushed inside. “It’s alright, Nox, she’s a friend.” He ushered his nephew inside, XR and Mor holding him tightly, relieved he was safe.  
  
DRAC finished off the last of the hornets and watched as the blue titan took the wolves down easily without a scratch. He saw the wolves turn back into hollow hands.  
  
AL screeched from the pain, “How dare you!”  
  
The titan dashed to him and swung with her sword, but AL ducked away in shock. He could sense it: this knight was the captive from the coffin.  
  
Nos was ready to fight when the knight stopped him.  
  
“Should you not see to your child?”  
  
Nos was surprised. “Will you be alright?”  
  
The knight nodded, her weapon changing into a scythe. “I shall smite this copycat of a devil.”  
  
AL laughed maniacally. “Do you really think you can smite me?” He growled, “I feel insulted being called a copycat by someone like you."  
  
The knight walked towards AL as he drew an axe like form from his hand.  
  
“I vow to protect the innocent, defend all souls from the wicked,” she struck toward him, forcing AL to move back. “You are nothing but a creature that serves evil.”  
  
AL’s smirk broke for a moment. He sensed no fear from the blue knight, and he felt a fear that hadn’t possessed him in years.  
  
Catching him off guard, she slashes him across cutting him down but he stopped her in midway. AL roundhouse kicked her and grabbed her, lifting her into the sky. “I don’t serve evil, my dear, I  _am_  evil!” He threw her across the open field, but she gained her bearings and managed to land on her feet. He held the shell and tucked it into his chest panel. If nothing, he had gotten the barest minimum of what he needed.  
  
AL hissed. “Let us call this a draw... for now,” he zoomed pass her and grabbed for the hands, disappearing once again.  
  
The knight shuffled a bit, kneeling to hold her side as it bled. Nos and DRAC helped her up.  
  
“I have failed to smite the evil that plagued your land.”  
  
Nos gave a small smile. “But you protected my family, thank you.”  
  
She nodded tiredly.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
In the communication room, Fletcher had collapsed into sobs. “AL is ba-ack, I think ‒ I think it might have Nox, I don’t know what to do!”  
  
Two leaned close, practically trying to come through the screen, panicked as the rest of their parents. “Fletcher, baby, look at me, you need to calm down! Stay quiet, hide, please ‒ ”  
  
ALD walked into the room with Mor at his side.  
  
Fletcher hiccupped and turned to them, sensing calm. “Everyone’s okay?”  
  
“ALD!” Darwin called, “You’re back!”  
  
Mor nodded, looking calmer than ever. “Nox is with Papa who is helping that really pretty knight.”  
  
ALD’s screen turned pink. “Yeah, turns out AL brought us a friend.”  
  
Fletcher slumped against Darwin, melting in relief. Two fell back against Fred, trying to pull herself together. All four of the Earthlings held each other close.


	8. Chapter 8

Nos healed the blue knight with a laser mender. He replaced a few parts, and seeing that she was now a bit unstable, he gave her a prototype core that DRAC had made. DRAC begrudgingly offered to give it to her, knowing he’d be able to make another. The core was now sustaining and regulating her systems, helping her strengthen herself.   
  
“So you are not an Energy Vampire, 8-R-10?” Nos asked as he scanned her.  
  
8 nodded. “I am a knight, made to defend my planet to the very end, but from what your brother told me, it is lost. I had never heard of such creatures before today.”  
  
Nos studied the armor, nodding solemnly. He placed her armor piece on a nanite machine that began to fix every crack. “I apologize for your loss.”  
  
Nox smiled, though he was somewhat confused. “You feel like  _him_  but you’re not really him. You’re really different, a really good person.”  
  
Nos concurred. “You must be his counterpart, though you are not related to us.”  
  
Nox looked to his father, noticing some untreated scrapes and scratches. “...I am sorry I ran out like that.”  
  
Nos nudged his head to his son’s to calm him down. “I know how important Fletcher and Darwin are to you. Their parents insisted on communicating through the screen, but I know you want more than that.”  
  
Nox stayed quiet as Nos finished 8’s repairs. “Good as new.” He spoke, finally replacing her armor.  
  
8-R-10 looked down and smiles at the great work. “I thank thee, sir Nos.” She then looked down at the boy. “May I take a walk with your son?”  
  
Nos was surprised, but seeing she held no malice, he nodded. “If I may keep a distant watch. I just want to make sure no harm comes especially if AL comes back.”  
  
8 nodded as she and Nox walks out of the large house and towards the forest. As followed the path to the lake, she looks down at the boy. Nox’s face darkened a bit from fear and sadness.  
  
8 looked up to the surrounding trees. “This forest reminds me of my home. I used to have friends that I missed very much. The only way I could interact with them was through letters, and even then, I missed them every day. I still do now, even after they’re long gone. I lost my whole world to a traitor.”  
  
“I’m sorry that happened to you.”  
  
8 shook her head. “Don’t be sorry child, I know they are with me wherever I go. You learn to enjoy every moment that you can with your friends. No matter where they are, they are always with you.” 8-R-10 looked to the lake, sensing the large presence. She knelt by the water, sticking her head in before pulling it out with a shake. Nox was worried she was scared for a moment, but that was only until he saw the excitement in her expression. “It’s the visul șarpelui!”  
  
Nox took a moment to understand what she said. “The dream serpent?”  
  
She nodded vigorously, her optics glowing in excitement. “They travel through the oceans and the sky! At least... they used to...” she knelt again and began to pray as Nox watched. When she finished, he sat with her.  
  
8 sat back on her feet. “They were our gods, they were our protectors in my planet. Oh how they brought peace to my world and life itself. I was to serve and protect the gods but my sister betrayed me and allowed these hunters and horrible people to kill them. I was chained and locked up in that forsaken coffin... all I remember is the cold and the silence of the castle.”  
  
Nox fell somber as they watched the lake. Though there was a peace about her, the long-seated pain seemed just as prominent in her signature. “...What will you do now?”  
  
8-R-10 looked to the sky. “As much as I want to kill that demon, I feel weary, as if I am dying. Do not worry, I am fine ‒ I am not of this world, and I cannot stay long.”  
  
The way she spoke was crushing. “But my dad said your world is dead! You can’t be there by yourself!”  
  
8-R-10’s faceplate glowed bright blue. “I was thinking of asking the fellow who woke me to come with, he seems charming.”  
  
Nox tilted his head, but he sensed someone coming towards them. ALD was running to them, though he stopped a good distance from 8-R-10, turning pink. “Nox, it is time to come back home.”  
  
Nox nodded as 8-R-10 stood up and bowed to the lake. On their way back, ALD worried over Nox. “So um... you feeling okay?”  
  
Nox nodded and smiled. “Maybe I can go to their planet, hang out with Fletcher and Darwin.”  
  
ALD nodded but kept looking away from 8-R-10.  
  
Nox was confused until he realized what was going on, at which point he stuck his tongue out.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
“After this whole fiasco, we like to ask if maybe Nox and Mor and Ana hangs out in your world instead?” XR asked. Everyone had reconviened in the communications room and regained a grasp on safety.  
  
“It really all comes down to the same thing either way: is it safe for anyone to go back and forth? It seems like things can find their way through regardless,” Fred worried aloud.  
  
“We were talking about that, and it looks like ALD and his girlfriend found a quick fix,” XR snickered.  
  
“We just met!” ALD shouted.  
  
The Nos on Earth leaned in. “Are you saying you can send Fletcher and Darwin back now?!”  
  
XR nodded. “We need to see if XL destroyed everything. Apparently he didn’t know they did a back up.”  
  
“But the portal on Planet Z?”  
  
8-R-10 spoke up. “I performed a ritual and wiped their thoughts and memories.”  
  
All head turned to the blue titantrying go enter through the door way. ALD vented steam. “She helped me destroy the portal.”  
  
“So... we’re really going with the whole magic is real thing, huh?” Rosie muttered.  
  
“It sounds more to me like she was doing the heavy lifting, ALD,” Two pointed out.  
  
ALD’s screen turned pink. “Well… she did save me ‒ !”  
  
8-R-10 squeezed him in a hug. “You are too sweet, sir ALD!”  
  
XR interjected. “This is 8-R-10. It turns out she was what AL pulled through from your universe.”  
  
“You’re from our world?” Two asked.  
  
8-R-10 nodded, not letting ALD go. “I am 8-R-10! Class 560, main guard to the once royal court! Protector of the innocents and the gods visul șarpelui.”  
  
“You protected our children. All of you... we couldn’t have asked for a better place for our boys to be randomly teleported to,” Fred half-laughed.  
  
“Except maybe somewhere in this world,” Rosie said.  
  
Fred put his arm around her shoulders, giving her a little squeeze.  
  
“When will you know whether the portal at Star Command is down?” Fetcher’s father asked.  
  
It was at that moment that XR’s wrist communicator played a tone. He grinned with hope. “Yeah XL?”  
  
XL, however, looked more guilty than happy. “Listen XR I ‒ hey, what is Nos doing with a woman?!”  
  
The Nos on screen rolled his optic. “Figures some things would stay the same across worlds.”  
  
XL grinned. “I knew it! I knew you were a cheater, you slimy ball of gas! You rat!”  
  
XR groaned, “XL ‒ ”  
  
Two rubbed a hand over her visor.  
  
XL continued on his rants and accusations. “I knew you were a two-timer! And you got her ‒ ”  
  
“XL, you  _imbecile,_  I am right here!” Nos growled, Ana on his arm.  
  
XL looked from one Nos to the other and shrieked like a little girl.  
  
8-R-10, still holding ALD, whispered to Nox, “Is he a manchild cursed with a child’s voice? The poor fool.”  
  
XR wished he could knock some sense in his brother. “XL snap out of it! Did you destroy the portal?!”  
  
XL stopped and paled. “About that....” he turns to show nebula coming in to the room.  
  
Nebula glared, his attention mostly focused on the Nos holding the baby. “You think I’d let you get away with destroying our invention?!”  
  
Nos growled, “You stole  _my_  invention you old fool!”  
  
Nebula waved it off. “All that matters is I got my eye on you, and you could be facing serious charges for destroying private property. You either bring those kids here or I come to you! Over and out!”  
  
XR groaned and Nox moved away from Fletcher.  
  
“What’s the problem?” the Earthling Nos exclaimed, “Whatever works will do, won’t it?”  
  
8-R-10 was in thought and quietly dropped ALD, and whispering in her Nos’s receptor.  
  
“If he finds out about Fletcher and Darwin, he’ll send them to your Star Command,” XR paled.  
  
“Why?!” Two shouted, “Is it so hard to just send them home?”  
  
Her husband seemed to shrink into himself.  
  
“Hey, I agree, but he has this stupid pride ‒ wait, where’s Nos?” XR looked around.  
  
Nox shifted nervously. “He said something about disguises.”  
  
“Who cares?” Rosie cried, “Does he value his pride over the lives of these children?”  
  
XR covered his face. “If it means proving his Star Command is better... yes.”  
  
Fletcher’s father prickled. “What could that possibly have to do with anything? Why could he not send them home before finding out whatever trivial information he wants?”  
  
XR’s husband returned, wiping his claws with a rag. “Because he is an airhead.”  
  
Earthling Nos wanted to snap back. Perhaps this Nebula is different than the one he knew, and he couldn’t risk exposing his knowledge of Star Command for fear of raising anyone’s suspicions. He fumed, hissing to himself.  
  
“This all seems so... violent. We couldn’t try reasoning with him?” Fred suggested.  
  
Nos-X-4-a2 shook his head. “He did not accept me before, he only tolerates me because of the children. There is no reasoning with him.”  
  
“Why wouldn’t our children sway him as well? They didn’t ask for this, and he’s partially to blame!” Rosie threw her arms out.  
  
“If he finds out Fletcher is not mine, he’ll put two to two together and have something against both Nos-4-a2s,” XR was worried now, “And if word gets out… well, it’ll get ugly.”  
  
Something clicked in Fetcher’s father’s mind, bleeding desperation across his face. “We can’t let him know.”  
  
The other Nos saw him beginning to panic. “Which is why 8 will destroy the machine, impersonating AL.”  
  
Two thought for a moment. “Is she doing this on her own?”  
  
“She is AL’s counterpart. They will not suspect it was us, as AL is known to attack there for his own reasons.”  
  
XR caught on to what his Nos was planning and grinned. “And Nebula will be none the wiser!”  
  
“But did you say she was already there? How did she travel there so fast?” Rosie blanched.  
  
“She borrowed a teleporter, she will be alright,” Nos explained. “She said she will do what must be done.”  
  
“So we can only hope that she makes it out alright?” Fred asked.  
  
XR received an alert. “Wow, that was quick. She destroyed it with that weapon of hers.”  
  
Two’s husband whispered, “Just like that?”  
  
Another call came through XR’s communicator and he quickly answered.  
  
“AL just destroyed our lab! Stay with your kids! Buzz and his team will go after him ‒ what do you mean he vanished?!” Nebula shouted.  
  
“Thank you Nebula. We will keep alert, goodbye,” Nos reached over to turn the communicator off.  
  
XR grinned and checked his scanner. Both signals were down. “Problem solved.”  
  
Darwin’s eyeforms shined “Does that mean...?”  
  
“...We get to go home?” Fletcher finished.  
  
XR nodded. “Just as soon 8 gets here ‒ wait, a portal opened over the lake?!”  
  
XR’s husband was confused. “That cannot be, we are the only ones that has a portal.”  
  
“What if it’s 8?” Nox gasped.  
  
XR and Nos looked at each other, then both took off. “Kids, stay with ALD!”  
  
“WHOOA!”  
  
Right outside the window, a portal ripped open, spitting out a chunk of water and a surprised-looking 8.  
  
“What’s going on?” Fletcher sputtered.  
  
8 stood up, her optics flickering with excitement. “I’m okay! My weapon can open portals now!”  
  
Everyone looks to one another in disbelief.  
  
“...I will go make sure she’s alright,” Nos zoomed outside to meet 8, who was jumping with excitement.  
  
“Sir Nos! I was destroying the portal, and my weapon absorbed a blast! I was surrounded by men in strange suits, but I did not wish to harm them, so my weapon glowed, and  _swoosh!_  A portal sent me into the lake!” she giggled, letting some water out of her glove.  
  
“Were you thinking of the lake?” Nos asked, confused.  
  
8 nodded. “I was getting nervous. The thought of the lake helped me calm down.”  
  
Nos patted her shoulder. “It is alright, please come in and we will see what has happened to your weapon.”  
  
“Is everything okay?” Fred asked.  
  
XR blinked. “Yeah, I think we got our problem solved.”  
  
Rosie’s eyes began to water. “They’re coming home?”  
  
XR nodded.  
  
Nos scanned the weapon in their lab, shocked by the results. “This is a metal made to absorb any energy. It is unknown.”  
  
8 took her weapon back, hugging it to her chest. “We called it god’s hand after a meteor crashed without causing any destruction. We believed it was god’s gift. I was chosen to bear the weapon when I was made from the same substance. I guess you could say we were one of a kind.”  
  
Nos nodded. “We need to go see everyone.”   
  
Fletcher practically began to shake, still clinging to Darwin. “Home... I was so scared, I didn't know if we were going to make it! When can we go?!”  
  
“Hopefully right now.” Nos entered with 8. He wanted to test a theory. “May I?”  
  
8 looked to the hands he had outstretched and gingerly passed him her weapon. Nos took it and it changed shape, forming a cube. He put it in Fletcher’s hands before the little hybrid had a chance to react, and it shaped into a perfect orb. 8 gawked. He wasn’t even made of the same metal!  
  
“Wait, this is a serious weapon ‒ !” Fletcher stammered, not wanting to just drop it, though he definitely didn’t want to be responsible for holding it.  
  
“It is alright, Fletcher. You and Darwin have been very brave, and been through so much,” Nos put his hands over Fletcher’s. “We trust and believe in you two. Just imagine your home, think about your parents.”  
  
Nox watched eagerly.  
  
Fletcher eyed it warily, glancing over his shoulder to his parents before looking to Darwin. The white android stepped close, linking their arms together. Fletcher closed his eyeforms, imagining everything he’d so sorely missed over the past few days, culminating in the image of the pear tree where all of their troubles began.  
  
The orb glowed and a portal opened before them.  
  
Darwin leaned toward it, eyeforms wide, to see beyond the doorway in reality.  
  
XR was nervous now. “Did it work?”  
  
Darwin’s knees went weak as he nodded. “Do we just... walk through? Where do we leave the weapon? If we take it through and it closes, what will we do?”  
  
8 patted their backs. “I am going home too, so we will go together. ALD?”  
  
A gloom fell over ALD. “So long as AL lives, I have to protect my family. They need me.”  
  
8 nodded, going in for another hug. “Then I have two reasons to come back. I need to court you properly, after all.”  
  
“Will, um...” Fletcher searched for words, “Will you all come with us? Even if it’s just for a minute before you come back?”  
  
“Of course.” Nos spoke as XR nodded along.  
  
“We’ll meet you in the yard. Come through, quick!” Two exclaimed.  
  
Nos ended the call and Fletcher and Darwin stepped together through the portal. XR held Ana while she reached out for Fletcher.  
  
The Earth kids looked around, finding themselves standing in the shade under the pear tree, just to the left of a chunk taken out of the grass. A breeze stirred, and for the first time since they left, they both truly relaxed.  
  
XR shuffled to the edge. “Your parents won’t mind?”  
  
Fletcher’s voice warbled. “Why would they? You guys are family.”  
  
“Yeah we are.”  
  
Nos, Two, and the Harleys came rushing out of the back door of the library. Nos and Two couldn’t help themselves, leaving the humans in the dust and wrapping the boys in a crushing hug. Fred and Rosie caught up moments later and fell to their knees, throwing their arms around the kids as well. All six knelt together and held on with all their might.  
  
Nox smiled, glad to see everyone safe.  
  
Fletcher’s father looked up through the portal, a slick trail down the side of his face. “Thank you.”  
  
XR’s husband nodded as he watched his own children walk up to the group. Nox was a bit embarrassed, his face turning orange. “Fletcher?”  
  
The hybrid managed to lift his head. The group hug loosened so everyone could stand, though everybody still stayed connected, hands folded together or on shoulders. Fletcher beamed at Nox.  
  
Nox held something close to his chest. “Mor and I wish to give you something.”  
  
Fletcher's eyeforms fell, but he listened.  
  
Mor nodded and together, they held out a red-jeweled locket. “This is one of two lockets given to us by our bunic. We want you to have the other half so that way you know we are never apart.” Mor grinned.  
  
Fletcher looked at the locket before reaching out, carefully taking it. "This means a lot, but... we’re never really gonna be apart anyway, are we?”  
  
Darwin puffed out his chest, “Not if I can help it!”  
  
Nox shook his head and both twins pulled Darwin into a hug. He hugged back, his smile hardly contained by his visor.  
  
Ana cried out. “Blue!”  
  
Fletcher lifted his head again, still smiling. "Mom, Dad, I forgot to tell you!" As soon as the twins let go, he hovered to XR and held out a finger to Ana. "I was Ana's first words!"  
  
Nos couldn't help smiling. “She’s precious.”  
  
Ana cried out, still reaching for him. “Blue!” She poofed and suddenly appeared in his arms, hugging him and whimpering. Fletcher gasped, quickly folding his arms around her to support her. Everyone gawked.  
  
“Did she just teleport?” Two stammered.  
  
XR grinned. “Aww! Her first power!”  
  
Ana’s father floated to her and gently opened her mouth, seeing no fangs. “Well I am surprised, she is not turned.”  
  
“Another dimension, indeed,” Fletcher’s father gave a lopsided smile. “You’re the strangest lot I’ve ever seen.”  
  
Ana glared at him, clinging to Fletcher  
  
Fletcher hovered to his father, still carrying Ana, and leaned his head against him. “I really missed you, Dad.” He soaked in Nos’s electrical signature, thankful to find that it was exactly what he expected, exactly what he remembered.  
  
Nos knelt down again, his hand spread out over Fletcher’s shoulder blades so they were on the same level. “We missed you more than you could imagine. And hello to you, too, Ana.”  
  
Ana growled and clung tighter to Fletcher. “My blue.”  
  
Nos laughed. “She is quite attached, isn’t she?”  
  
Capital Planet Nos leaned down to XR. “She is already claiming.”  
  
Fletcher blanched. “She’s  _what?_ ”  
  
XR laughed a bit. “Sorry. She’s already starting her terrible twos. When the twins were three they were always ‘claiming’ things as their property or territory.”  
  
XR’s husband nodded. “She sees you are her brother too, but sensing someone who she does not know despite the similarities is making her somewhat possessive.”  
  
Ana hid her face beneath Fletcher’s head.  
  
“Oh... well, I hope she doesn’t get too sad. I thought she might have been doing something weird.”  
  
Ana’s father shook his head. “Oh, no, I just hope her powers do not stress her systems too much.”  
  
Nox shuddered at the memory, hoping his little sister would be okay.  
  
“She’ll have to visit often, then,” Two beamed, “though I don’t want to be the one to tell her she can’t keep Fletcher all to herself.”  
  
Nox smiled, nervous. “Then you do not mind if we come back…?” Mor clung to his arm, looking eagerly.  
  
Fred’s face turned serious, his attention drawn from doting on Darwin. “We actually have a condition.”  
  
Nox’s expression fell, but Mor stood her ground. “I accept any challenge! Name it and I shall take it with an iron fist!”  
  
“This isn't a challenge, sweetheart,” Rosie smiled, “We just need to know that this... this random tear, or whatever it was, can never happen again. It may have turned out alright this time, but I think we all know it was because luck was on our side.”  
  
“We will make certain, you have our word,” the twin’s father spoke.  
  
“I never get to use my iron fist...” Mor grumbled.  
  
ALD held her up, “And you are not. I do not know why you even keep that thing in the first place.”  
  
8 giggled, “You’re a high spirited child. I hope that if I ever have children, they are like you younglings.”  
  
ALD looked away, turning pink.  
  
“Well, if that’s all settled, I think it’s only fair that we invite you inside. It’s the least we can do to thank you,” Two’s husband rose up to his full height.  
  
XR smiled. “If you don’t mind, can the kids play outside?”  
  
Fletcher groaned, but Darwin nudged him. “Come on, we can show them around the gardens!”  
  
“I just want to get in my own bed...”  
  
“You’ll have time for that later! There may not be any nightmare-eating snakes here, but there are still a lot of really cool places to play hide-and-seek! Come on, Nox and Mor!” Darwin bounced off.  
  
“What about Ana?” Fletcher hovered after them, carefully holding Ana, who had fallen fast asleep.  
  
The four Earthling parents watched them go, not ready to part so soon, but the weight of XR’s tone warranted another moment of separation. Two lead everyone inside as the kids began to play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Ubernerd: In my defense, just because something is fun in the moment doesn't mean it makes a perfect work of literature. As much as I'd like to fix up the plot and pacing, that just isn't in the cards for me right now. We just have one chapter left to go! If you've made it this far, thanks for hanging in there. The next story will be held to a much higher standard, but I hope you find enjoyment here regardless!


	9. Chapter 9

Two lead the way into the library, guiding everyone up the stairs to the second floor, where a sitting area faced windows that looked out over the back gardens. She couldn’t take her eyeforms off Fletcher. Nos was the first to take a seat, sighing heavily. “Listen, if this is going to happen often, no one can know about it.”  
  
XR and Nos nodded, said father of twins was the first to speak. “We agree, especially since this is a delicate situation now.”  
  
“May I speak?” 8 asked nervously but ALD held her hand in comfort.   
  
Two cocked her eyeform. “Of course.”  
  
8’s eyes formed into a smile. “Thank you, my lady.” 8 stood up and cleared her speaker. “Sir Nos did not use his portal. Fletcher used my weapon and this is very important. For the weapon to form perfectly into a sphere, especially from such a young age, he has shown himself worthy to bear this weapon. May I teach him to how to use it that he might keep himself safe when he comes of age?”  
  
Rosie went pale, “Teach him how to fight?”  
  
8 shook her head without hesitation. “Of course not! That is barbaric for a child! I meant to teach him about magic but if that is to be added ‒ ”  
  
Nos seemed to gather all the tension he had just released. “That isn’t the life I want for him. I know it’s different on your side of the gate, but this world is much safer.”  
  
XR held up his hands. “Hey, she’s from your world, this isn’t on us.”  
  
“Lady 8-R-10, do you mean to say that there’s magic in  _this_  dimension?” Fred managed.  
  
8 nodded. “Why yes, even through this world! He has been given a gift. Coincidence or not, I sense it within him.”  
  
Two burst into laughter. “Our Fletcher! I’ve always found him enchanting, haven’t you?”  
  
Nos buried his face in his hands. “Please, love... This is a lot to take in. What would your teaching even constitute? He’s just a boy; before yesterday his biggest concern was finishing his reading assignment, and you’re telling me you want to teach him to, what... make fire out of nothing and turn people into toads?”  
  
8 cocked her eyes in a confused smile. “You cannot turn someone into a toad, you turn them into newts.”  
  
Nos’s amusement fell to plain shock.  
  
XR kept his laughter in as did his Nos. “You know how to pick them, ALD.”  
  
8 tilted her head. “Did I say something odd?"  
  
“In all seriousness, he can’t learn to do that,” Two muttered.  
  
Fred shook his head, “He’d utterly destroy the leader of that pack of bullies.”  
  
“He really is just a child, even if he has some kind of gift...”  
  
“It’s too much power for him to wield. When he’s older, maybe...” Nos shook his head.  
  
8 waved emphatically, “Oh, I would not teach him to use it for cruelty! I believe it would help him grow, and give him a sense of safety in understanding.”  
  
“He has such an inquiring mind,” Two murmured, “As soon as he said the word ‘magic’ this morning, I knew it was all he’d want to talk about. It wouldn’t be any use telling him not to look for himself, he’d find a way.”  
  
Nos nodded, watching him parade around the garden. “He has a knack for experimentation like nobody I’ve ever known. This is all so sudden. You can’t just make things happen in this world. He could be ostracised, or have to keep himself hidden... I just want him to live in freedom. If he wants to learn, there will be no stopping him, but... I’m afraid it would put him at risk.”  
  
XR rolled his servos. “As if yesterday didn’t prove it ‒ ”  
  
His husband covered his mouth.  
  
“What happened yesterday? Did Fletcher do something?” Two asked.  
  
Nos shook his head. “He meant about the boys’ bewilderment at seeing the meteor shower.”  
  
“I know this has all just happened, and frankly, I’m still struggling with the fact that there was absolutely nothing we could do to protect Darwin and Fletcher. I think Nos is referring to a different ‘risk’ here,” Fred spoke.  
  
Two’s husband nodded, “Fletcher has already had to grow up different from children his age. He’s only the third of his kind here, and as sweet as he is if you really know him... he doesn’t go out of his way to be friendly. If we’re even going to consider this, 8, we’d have to know you’d be teaching him nothing more than fundamentals, even just theories. He can’t be... practicing.”  
  
8 nodded in appreciation. “Oh, absolutely! I believe to understand magic, you must understand the concepts.”  
  
Two still watched the children, glued to the window. “...It’ll have to be his decision. Would you be willing to teach Darwin as well?”  
  
8 looked happier than ever. “Of course, he has potential, especially as he shares such an open mind.”  
  
“I want them to find a balance first,” Rosie said, “Our worlds have just opened wider than we ever imagined they could be..”  
  
8 giggled, “Your world has always been this big, it doesn’t change now that you’re aware of it.”  
  
Fred rolled his eyes, “Yes, but we can let the kids try to get used to it first. If this is something they want, we can let them come to us and ask about it. Offering them the opportunity now seems like too much to put on them.”  
  
XR had to agree there. “It took us a while to settle after that one dimension hop.”  
  
“Small steps,” his husband nodded.  
  
Fletcher’s father ran a deep breath through his ventilation system. He stared hard at the ceiling. Fred stepped over to pat the Energy Vampire on the shoulder and sat on the arm of the chair next to him.  
  
Two leaned to watch the children pass behind a row of hedges, tilting her head to make sure she could still see them. “None of them should have to deal with this.”  
  
ALD looked in the same direction, “Hopefully it won’t happen again.”  
  
“Somehow, I feel like you’re going to make sure of that,” Two looked away for a moment to address 8.  
  
8 stood and placed her hand to her chest. “I swore to protect, and I plan on keeping my oath.”  
  
“Where will you be staying in the meantime, 8?” Fred asked.  
  
8 faltered, “I must return back to my home. I need to see what has become of Transylvania.”  
  
The Earthling Nos-4-a2’s expression softened. “If you ever need a place to stay, you’re welcome here.”  
  
8 nodded, “I thank you, but with the ability to travel, I can see my life mate whenever I like as well!”  
  
ALD tries to not turn red as he was once again pulled into her arms  
  
“He saved my life and freed me from my imprisonment. I felt as if I was swept off my feet!” she giggled.  
  
Rosie, Fred, and Nos all look away, not sure what to say in the face of this very fast-moving romance, while Two kept her visor pressed to the window.  
  
XR whispered to his mate, “Should we help him?”  
  
Nos shook his head, “He is on his own.”  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Fletcher did his best to keep up with everyone while being very careful of Ana. Darwin lead them around the gardens and pointed out all their favorite spots, but as soon as he saw all of the adults in the high windows of the library, he made sure to stay where he could always see them.  
  
“It’s really beautiful here,” Nox smiled. Ana yawns, making Nox giggle. “I still cannot believe Ana has her powers already.”  
  
Fletcher held Ana a little tighter so she wouldn’t slip. “Mom planted this all herself. She lets me help her take care of the plants, too! When did you get your, uh, powers, Nox?”  
  
Nox’s smile saddened a bit. “I was only four. I forced it out.”  
  
Nox undid the first few buttons on his shirt and opened his chest panel to show a red-orange orb with thick, yellow lines moving through it like a slow current. “I have a similar core to my papa, but when I tapped into my powers, I was not in control.”  
  
Darwin tried not to stare. “I don’t think I’m ever really going to get used to seeing that.”  
  
Fletcher’s eyeforms flashed. “Are the cores something your world would consider ‘magic?’”  
  
Nox blushed and buttoned his shirt back up. “Well I’m not sure, but Zurg found a way to replicate it from the LGMs. It helps my papa control the antimatter energy inside of him. The LGMs made a core for my dad as an experiment. They wanted to see if it would help my dad understand situations better. It was so crazy when they found out my dad was incubating us later on.”  
  
Mor nodded, looking up and wondering what their sky looked like at night. Now, it was a very pale shade of blue. There weren’t many clouds, but it hung with a sort of permanent haze.  
  
“With all the similarities between our worlds, the differences sure are...  _different,_ ” Darwin muttered.  
  
“No kidding!” Fletcher smirked, “I’d love to learn more about cores. Maybe it could help robots here.”  
  
Nox nodded, but a part of him was nervous. “Yeah, hopefully,” he flinched away from a small, yellow butterfly flying up to him. It touched on his head before flying away.  
  
“That butterfly is almost the same color as you,” Fletcher chuckled.  
  
Nox giggled before spotting the mess the portal made.  
  
Darwin followed Nox’s gaze and shuddered.  
  
Fletcher looked as well, his eyeforms falling at the state of the pear tree. “And we were just so excited that this one made it through the winter. It’ll take a while to recover from this.”  
  
Just as Nox went to look away, 8 strode into his line of sight, walking to the tree. “Children, can you bring some dirt to cover the roots?”  
  
Two shot out just behind her, bristling. “Please, hold on! Thank you, but the roots are very delicate. It’s safer as it is now than just bending it back in the ground. I’ll take care of it later.”  
  
Fletcher tried to stifle his laughter, whispering, “You can’t mess with Mom’s gardens. She’s a real control freak.”  
  
Nox remembered something, opening his chest panel and walking up to Eve Two. “...Umm.... Mrs. Fletcher’s Mom?”  
  
Two stopped her frantic fluttering and looked down at the little hybrid. “Oh, yes, um... Nox, right?”  
  
Nox nodded, holding out a vial. “My friend Mr. DRAC had to go through the same thing you went through, so he made this for you. It’s to help strengthen your system from the virus. He felt bad and did not want anyone suffering like he did.”  
  
Two give him a confused smile, tentatively reaching out to take the vial. “That’s very thoughtful, dear, but I think ‘suffering’ is a bit strong for my case. Tell your friend I say ‘thank you.’”  
  
Fletcher looked at his mother from the corner of his visor, unable to read her carefully guarded wavelength.  
  
8 was a bit mesmerized, wondering if she’d be able to help save her own planet. “Madam, may I help you with your tree?”  
  
“Please don’t worry about it,” Two shook her head, “you’ve already done more than we could ever ask for.”  
  
8 nodded and felt something shuffling in her chest. She turned away and opened herself to find something growing in a small bubble.”Young Nox, would you fetch your father?”  
  
Nox nodded and rushed inside, the rest of the kids following behind him.  
  
“Are... you okay?” Two quirked an eyeform.  
  
8 sat down and crossed her legs. “I think I have a stowaway inside of me... or is there such a way for a man to impregnate you with nothing but a glance?”  
  
Two gave her a hard look. “ _What?_ ”  
  
Capital Planet Nos floated out and went to 8’s side. He hesitated before asking, “May I please do a scan?”  
  
8 nodded and Nos’s jaw slackened in surprise. “Just how deep were you in the lake?”  
  
8 had to think. “I believe I reached the bottom.”  
  
“It appears you have one of the smaller eggs inside of you, though it has grown quite a bit.”  
  
Two came in close, making sure nobody besides Nos and 8 could hear her. “You don’t mean one of the dream serpent eggs?”  
  
Nos nodded. “It is, but it is too attached to her core. If she opens it now, it may kill the egg. It will need to be somewhere cold and completely dark until it is old enough to tolerate heat.”  
  
Two’s voice hardened. “It can’t be on this planet.”  
  
“But it can be on my planet!” 8 beamed, “I found a small piece of life that reminds me of my past home. Please, sir Nos?” She took his hand. “As your future sister in law, please allow me this gift, to hold this god inside of me.”  
  
Two looked at it, awed. “Sounds perfect to me; as long as it’s not here. I was trying to keep my husband calm earlier, but another big reason we can’t have the dream serpent on Earth is because it would bring too much attention to our home. Nos ‒ my Nos ‒ all he wants is ambiguity. This kind of thing could attract people from all over, and if the Galactic Alliance feels like the population has become too dense, they could see fit to relocate our entire family.”  
  
Nos nodded. “I understand.”  
  
Two shifted a little. “But what would this mean for your planet, 8?”  
  
8 looked down. “I am the only one there... it will be the only place this little one can be safe.”  
  
Two’s eyeforms shone like a child’s. “If you come back to teach Fletcher, would you mind telling me about the serpent?”  
  
“Of course!” 8 smiled.  
  
Nos held out a chip to Two. “Then you will need this. It will help you understand the serpent.”  
  
Two took the chip, looking it over. “What is this?”  
  
“It is my research on the serpents. This way, if anything happens, you will be prepared.”  
  
Two’s eyeforms narrowed. “Okay, first: I’m going to need some kind of adaptor. I’ve never seen a chip like this before. Second: what would I need to be prepared for?”  
  
“The serpent will react to empathy. 8 will be the first to sense an emotional attachment, just as Stevie did with Nox. As soon as it grows, it will make tunnels beneath the ground so 8 will need to keep tabs on it, especially while it is young and vulnerable. It will begin to shed shells, which will help the ground germinate life. I will bring an adapter for you that way you can download the information. I am simply concerned about 8 most of all because she will be the only existing attachment. However, if you visit it from time to time, it will help the creature adjust better.”  
  
“Oh, wow, okay. Um, I’ll have to show you what informational ports we have here in so we get one that works. And do you mean... me? Go to another planet?” Two pointed to herself.  
  
Nos nodded. “You have excellent control over your emotions and will help balance 8’s... highly emotional state.”  
  
8 hugged eve. “I can help teleport you there and no one will know!”  
  
Two put her hands up, backing away. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I don’t know what it’s like in your universe, but here, Nos is under very strict watch. He can’t leave Earth, and he’s...” she looked down, “our family is my whole world. I promised him I would never go anywhere he couldn’t follow. I’d be happy to learn, but I won’t be visiting.”  
  
Nos softened in understanding. “Then I may know of someone else, especially if 8 is attached to him. And he is not under watch.”  
  
8 perked up.  
  
Nos continued, “ALD or DRAC will suffice. ALD will be of great help, but DRAC keeps better details in researching.”  
  
Two smiled up at 8. “And I’m sure when the boys are older, they’d love nothing more than to visit, too.”  
  
8 was excited. “Hopefully by then, my world will be flourishing with life again.”  
  
Two tried to contain herself. “You’ll have the chance to landscape an entire planet...”  
  
8 thought of it with joy.  
  
“If you need cuttings of any plants, all I really know is Earthling botany, but I’m sure there are arctic algae and maybe some lichens and grasses that could get your ecosystems started!”  
  
They started chatting and sharing ideas, both of them working together to grow their excitement.  
  
Nox looked up to his father. “Does that mean ALD will have to leave?”  
  
Nos shook his head. “Not forever, sweet bat. He will only go from time to time, but until 8 can adjust to the changes, she will need ALD. Especially when he learns now he has no choice. He must accept his responsibility.”  
  
Nox cocked his head. “But she is not incubating.”  
  
Two paused and turned to the father and son. “I’m sorry, I’m sure there’s a lot I’m missing here, but how is this ALD’s responsibility?”  
  
Nos pointed to 8. “She is smitten by ALD and he is being tsundere about it because he fears she will not love him after returning to her home planet. He now has no reason to cry himself to sleep at night.”  
  
Two stared blankly, having to take a long half a minute before she could respond. “Sounds like you need to talk about it like adults instead of leaning into your infatuation and acting like children.”  
  
“I did speak with him about his emotions, especially considering previous infatuation he had. He would not listen. I consider this karma and payback,” Nos said.  
  
“He is really a sweet person,” Nox retorted as he stood by his father.  
  
Two shook her head. “It’s none of my business. I’m going to go check on my Nos.”  
  
Capital Planet Nos agreed, “We should be taking our leave as well. My mate and I will have to go before Nebula finds out we are not at home.”  
  
Two froze. “This whole time I’ve been worried about our Galactic Alliance. What will happen to you?”  
  
Nos waved it off. “I work for the Galactic Alliance so we are alright. The Madame President allows me my rights.”  
  
“But if your Nebula finds out about us, you don’t think he’ll try to get involved, do you?” Two’s eyeforms sharpened.  
  
“He will, which is why as soon as I get back, I will speak to the Madame President about the sensitive state he caused, that way he will not have access to opening portals.”  
  
“I hate to ask more of you, but please... anything you can do to keep us from being found. And if there’s anything we can ever do for you, please let us know!”  
  
Nos nodded and they made their way back to the mansion. Using 8’s weapon, Nos opened a portal to their universe as Nox and Mor hugged Fletcher and Darwin.  
  
Nox kept his tears in, knowing it wasn’t goodbye. “We’ll call you later, okay?”  
  
“You’d better call us!” Darwin beamed.  
  
“Let us know when you plan on dropping by, as well!” Fletcher’s father added, “Times aren’t always opportune, if you catch my drift.”  
  
XR chuckled, “Yeah, and hopefully by then everything will be calm and smooth.”  
  
“Now, that’s a wild concept!” Fred laughed heartily.  
  
“Stay safe, all of you!” Rosie waved.  
  
The twins held both of their fathers’ hands. “We will!”  
  
XR held onto Ana, who was ready to cry.  
  
“Don’t worry, Ana, we’ll see you again soon,” Fletcher smiled.  
  
Somehow, in some way, Ana seemed to understood and instead clung to XR.  
  
“See you later, alligators!” Mor yelled out as they began to enter the portal, and just as they passed through, it disappeared. Everyone waved as long as they could, watching the portal close.  
  
8 shifted her weapon back into a scythe to lean on it. “I must leave as well. My planet calls to me.”  
  
“Thank you for everything, Lady 8. Good luck on your planet,” Fletcher said, floating up to perch on his father’s shoulder. Nos tilted his head against him, holding him close.  
  
8 fell quiet. “I fear that I cannot stay with that name any longer. I am in a new time. I believe a change in name is better for me to adjust.”  
  
Two couldn’t help laughing. “I remember picking my name. If I could go back and do it again, I think I’d go with something floral.”  
  
8 nodded. “Alas, I am terrible with names. Perhaps you all can help give me a new name?”  
  
Nos put up his hands. “The only good name I’ve ever helped pick is Fletcher’s.”  
  
“What’s important to you, miss knight? We could pick something symbolic,” Rosie suggested.  
  
8 thought for a bit. “Life, protecting the innocent... I know that whatever challenge await me on my planet, I will tackle them.”  
  
“Flowers have a lot of meanings...” Fletcher hummed.  
  
Two’s eyeforms opened wide, launching straight into information mode. “Protea: named after a child of Poseidon, a sea god who would change shape. Protea flowers come in many shapes and forms and therefore this flower symbolizes diversity, courage and strength.”  
  
The titan squealed. “I love it! Protea... I am now Protea!”  
  
Fletcher flicked his wings out, flapping up to hug her around the neck, while Darwin hugged her waist. “Protea!”  
  
She hugged them both. "Thank you, children! If fate is kind, I will see you again soon.”  
  
Fletcher and Darwin let go, if reluctantly.  
  
“Take care of yourself, Protea,” Fred smiled, “We’ll look forward to meeting you in happier circumstances.”  
  
Protea waved away and lifted her scythe, using it to tear a portal in the air. Snow swirled through, falling to the Earth. The knight took one last moment to look everyone over before stepping through. She bowed, beaming, and the group left on Earth held each other close.  
  
With that, the portal closed.

**Author's Note:**

> This is pretty heavily edited from its original form, but there's only so much we wanted to change without taking away from all the good, good character interaction. Things really start to take off in Chapter 2! I want to get a chapter posted once a week, but I also don't want to make any promises we can't keep. Thanks for reading!


End file.
